Unlikely Turn
by robbiepoo2341
Summary: In this sequel to Unlikely Mission, Robin must face his greatest enemy: himself. Meanwhile, Red X returns to find that all the responsibility has suddenly been thrust on him, something he is not used to. A fair warning: much shipping of various sorts.
1. Prologue

Alrighty, well, the long-awaited sequel is here...haha, I'm only kidding myself. You guys weren't excited for this one were you? Sorry it's so short, but chapter one is loaded, so I thought i'd just ease into this one.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans or any related material.

Prologue

I used to be Robin. I used to be a Teen Titan. In fact, I used to be the leader of the Teen Titans. Not anymore.

Raven and I were kidnapped by Red X, who was having problems with Doctor Light. Everything went downhill from there. Doctor Light had teamed up with Chang, and they had discovered a way to make xinothium even more deadly. Unfortunately, I was captured trying to save Raven, and I felt the effects of the poison first. Which is why I survived.

The others are gone. Cyborg's in peices and Red X was incinerated. Raven and Beast Boy are locked permanently in her mind. And Starfire... She met up with Chang and Light and experienced the concoction at its worst.

I was devastated. My world had come to an end. It seemed there was no hope for me. And there was none. I was broken, beaten.

But I've found a way to overcome my emotions. I reverted back to the old days, so to speak. Now, I'm Slade's apprentice.

Most people thought I was insane when they found out. But there was logic to this madness. I no longer have to feel. All I have to do is obey Slade's orders and steal for him. I don't have to think about my pain anymore, and that's what I wanted.

The other Titans, Speedy, Aqualad, everybody, they're dealing with Doctor Light now. Sooner or later, I think I'll purposefully run into Chang and Light. After all, now that I'm a villain, I can give them a piece of my mind.

Slade was surprised to see me so broken, which is understandable, but now he's used to it. After all, everything happened so fast, it's hard for anybody to deal with. I've never cried so much in my life, and even now, I sometimes find my emotions overwhelming at night.

There is no hope of my friends ever coming back, and if they did, I don't think I could face them. I could have saved them if I hadn't let my emotions get in the way, but I didn't. How could I face them with that knowledge riding on my back?

I loved two girls. And my heart broke twice because of this. Raven, the empath, the unemotional, sarcastic beauty. I thought I didn't love her, and I tried to tell her so, but she didn't listen. She kissed me, and I couldn't tell her that I didn't feel anything, but I couldn't tell her that I would pick her over Starfire. I couldn't. Then Starfire and I both had the time of ours lives, only to have our hopes dashed!

I am an empty shell. I am not Robin, I am just another criminal. I am no longer the Boy Wonder. I am Slade's apprentice.


	2. Chapter 1

Ahem, sorry I've taken so long, but Spring Break was so much fuuuunnn...

Discalimer: Same as always.

Chapter 1

A dark figure entered the tower. He sighed heavily. Even in the darkness, the wet spots on his uniform and the tears in the material were evident, and each step the figure took seemed to be labored. But he had made it, and that's what mattered. As he collapsed onto the couch, he faintly wondered why all the lights were off at this time of night, but he didn't pay it much thought as he bound his wounds. Maybe everybody else was in the hospital room. It actually wouldn't surprise him.

He flipped through channels, trying to clear his mind of the day's work. His arms were killing him from the grueling climb. He had amazed himself climbing out of that cavern without leaving a trace of his escape. At least if the villains returned for him, they would think him incinerated. But the effort had taken much out of him, not to mention the fact that his belt was left behind in the process. He felt bad for whoever stumbled upon it, since it was covered in xinothium.

His eyes widened suddenly as he flipped past the news. He thought he had seen...no, but it couldn't be...that righteous kid? No, it must have been someone else... But, no, there it was when he turned back to that channel. It was Robin, completely dressed in a Slade uniform and everything!

He nearly lept from his seat, but he was too weak to do so. "No. Way," was all he could manage as he watched the news report. The kid had gone off the deep end. He and those emotions...well, he had warned the kid, hadn't he? He shook his head. What could have possibly possessed the kid to do such a thing?

He forced himself up onto his feet. It was time for an investigation of the Tower, he decided. First stop, the kitchen. He was starved. Little did he suspect that the kitchen would in fact be filled with evidence.

The first thing he noticed was that there was a cake. Then he noticed that the cake was missing its top half. Curious, he looked around, and saw that the top half was glued to the wall, and a backwards, smeared "S and R" was painted on the wall from its icing. Someone had definitely been mad at the cake for some reason, maybe because of what it insinuated?

As he continued through the kitchen, he noticed that there were several dirty dishes and candy wrappers. Definite clues of depression, he thought in disgust. Whatever had happened here was going to be more complicated then he felt like getting into right now.

So this is what happens when you leave the kids alone for a few weeks, he thought to himself sadly as he tried in vain to find real food. Shrugging, he continued down the halls, resolving to go out for pizza after he had figured out what had pushed the Boy Wonder over the edge.

Next stop: he would go to the Boy Wonder's room. Surely there was something there that would help him...oh boy. He stared in amazement at this mess. Uniforms were strewn everywhere, pictures were broken, and the bed was crusted with dried blood. He noticed that beside the bed, there was an untouched picture. He reached out to grab it. It was a picture of Robin and Starfire, smiling at the camera. He noted with concern that the handprints on the frame were red, and the picture itself was tear-stained.

He was starting to fear the worst as he continued to Cyborg's room. There was no one there, as he expected, but he also noticed that many of the machines were starting to get dusty. Cyborg hadn't been in his room for weeks.

Beast Boy's room was a mess, and dust, mold, and spiders clung in every corner. No one had been here for a long time either, and he was starting to worry about what had happened to everybody.

Starfire's room was next. This room disturbed him the most. Absolutely nothing was touched, but there was no dust or anything that had collected in the corners. Somebody had cleaned this room, as if to honor her or to impress her... He was starting to get confused.

One last room left, and then he would move on to the hospital, where he hoped he wouldn't have to find what he thought he would. He nervously knocked on the door, hoping that the occupant wasn't home and that she wouldn't pummel him for coming within a two foot radius. Thankfully, there was no answer, and he slowly opened the door...and gasped.

The room was a mess. Books and bookcases were everywhere, and random objects littered the floor. A broken mirror lay in the center of the floor, its cracks the exact pattern of a footprint he knew pretty well. The mirror seemed to have an impact on him, for some reason, and he wondered what had happened. His eyes followed the trail of objects, finally resting on...Raven?

He gasped once more, his eyes going right to the instruments. A flat line. No, that wasn't possible! What had happened? He rushed over to the girl's figure and listened for a heartbeat, but heard none. Not good.

He rushed to the hospital wing, hoping that he would find somebody there to help him. Little did he suspect exactly what he would be walking into. His eyes opened at the sight: Starfire lay peacefully on the bed, unmoving. A familiar mask was in her hands, and a red imprint was on her lips.

He couldn't believe what was happening; his head was spinning. But he couldn't deny what was in front of him. As he stepped backwards a bit in surprise, he heard the crunch of paper beneath his boot and bent down to pick up the note.

"Robin; I went into Raven's mind like you suggested. I wouldn't have if I could have, but I couldn't find any other way. I did find your antidote thingy that slows it down, so I should be safe long enough to find Raven. I hope you and Starfire made it. -Beast Boy," he read aloud.

He was amazed at how clearly the picture was painted in his mind. Beast Boy and Raven trapped in the girl's mind, Cyborg gone, Starfire destroyed, and Robin gone off the deep end. He shook his head in amazement. He had warned the kid, but it seems some things can't be helped once things go too far.

Sighing, he decided that the best thing for him to do would be to get some sleep and try to sort through things in the morning.

3 3 3 3

Flashback:

He wondered around this place. It was different than he remembered. The sky was bright red, as he remembered, but so was the ground, and it seemed as if he were standing in a dormant volcano, not the strange place he remembered from his previous visit. Calling out into the air, he hoped that someone could hear him, someone friendly. "Hello?"

There was no answer, but rather a dead silence. Not even those annoying black ravens that he remembered used to perch on the rotting trees could be heard shouting their warning calls, and he felt goosebumps run up his arms. It was too quiet. Surely Happiness was around here somewhere. At this point, he'd even settle for being attacked by that pink emotion.

But there was no one around, so he continued to walk in a straight line, figuring that he was bound to run into someone sooner or later. Everything seemed burnt to a crisp, and he was starting to really worry. But, just as he was about to turn back and wait for the others, he heard a voice call his name. "Beast Boy!"

He turned around quickly, wondering who this emotion was. He hoped fervently that it was someone nice, because he couldn't put up with Rude or someone like that right now. After all, this was an emergency. "Hello?"

Suddenly, a small, light-pink clad emotion attacked him, hugging him around the knees. "It is you! You're here and you're real and you're going to help us!"

He pulled away, surprised. This wasn't Happiness, but he couldn't think of another emotion that would be this elated. Well, there was one other, but she was so SMALL..."Um, who are you?" he asked.

She grinned up at him. "It's a long story," she said.

He grinned back. "I'm listening," he prodded.

She sighed, shaking her head in amusement. "Alright, try and keep up. I'm Little Love, and my sister, Love, is out there somewhere too."

"Huh?"

"I'm not done yet!" she laughed. "See, when Raven couldn't decide between you and Robin, the original Love was split, and, well, I'm the side that likes, um, you!" she finished, her face now a deeper shade of pink than her cloak.

He grinned broadly. "Really?" he asked.

She nodded shyly. "You're not half bad, really. You may be annoying sometimes with your attempts at making me laugh, but you're not half bad!"

He grinned. He would enjoy his time here. "Thanks!"

Little Love led him back to an area with several other Ravens, who all waved at him without much enthusiasm. "This is Rude, Confusion, Bravery-"

"Why is everybody either a giant or a midget?" Beast Boy broke in as a tiny Intelligence buzzed by his ear.

"We have been exposed to too much of the more dangerous chemical component of xinothium because of Raven's temporary lapse in judgement that led to the use of her powers, thus enabling the dangerous chemical to affect us without thought!" Intelligence said, landing on his shoulder and staring him in the eyes.

"Sorry?"

Intelligence sighed. "I mean the xinothium had a negative effect on us, and that's why our sizes vary so much," she said.

"Great, another Cyborg," he muttered.

A ground-shaking laugh echoed behind him, and he turned to see a huge Happiness. "Good one!" the emotion laughed energetically.

Almost grudgingly, he turned to face the pink emotion. "Hey there," he smiled as broadly as he could, though happiness could get on someone's nerves when their life is at stake.

"What are you doing here?" asked a familiar voice.

He broke down. He just couldn't take it anymore. "Raven, it's horrible! Cyborg's gone, Red X is gone, Star was captured, Robin went to go after her, and I need you to heal me before the antidote wears off!" he said all in one breath as fresh tears fell across his face.

Raven's eyebrows shot up. "They're all gone?" she asked, more slowly this time.

"Yes, and I don't know what to do! Can you heal me?"

Raven lifted her cloak so that he could see her body. A long gash ran across one of her legs, and he now noticed that she walked with a limp. "I'd love to, but.."

He nodded. "I understand. You can't. But can anyone else here help me? I got a dose of xinothium, and..."

Raven's eyes widened. "Xinothium?"

He nodded. "We had another run-in with Doctor Light, and it didn't turn out very well without you and Robin to help us out..."

Though she visibly flinched at the Boy Wonder's name, she nodded. "I get it."

"So can you help me?" he pressed.

She shook her head. "I can't but one of my emotions might be able to. That is, if someone wants to volunteer to shrink," she added, looking around at the other Ravens.

Happiness grinned as everyone looked up at her. "I guess I could stand to be a few feet shorter," she consented.

"Yeah, because a twelve-foot tall emotion isn't tall enough," Rude remarked sarcastically, earning a few annoyed looks.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," Happiness chanted energetically, and a big black hand pressed him to the ground. Akwardly stuck to the ground, he felt weird as all the emotions stared at him and black energy flowed through him.

"Finished!" Happiness shouted, pulling away.

He sat up, rubbing his sore chest. "Finally," he muttered darkly, glad to be able to breath freely again.

"Did it work?" Happiness asked. She was now normal height. In answer to his question gaze, she shrugged and said, "It took a lot of energy. There was a lot of xinothium in there."

He shrugged and said, "Let's see if it did." He morphed into a dog and panted. His lungs weren't on fire anymore, and he felt much better. Morphing back, he grinned.

"Great! Now you can stay here!" Little Love shouted, hugging him around the legs.

"Now, see, that's where we disagree," said a voice from the shadows. Love.

"Hi," he said akwardly, sticking his hand out for a handshake.

She fixed him with an icy stare. "You are the one thing my "sister" and I disagree on, and I think it best if you leave," she said cooly.

"I thought you were Love," he muttered.

She glared at him. "Love is one of the more complicated emotions," she replied cooly. "I can feel many things, and you are starting to try my patience. Send him back," she said, glaring at Little Love.

"Please let him stay!" Little Love pouted, still holding on to his leg.

Suddenly, the sky seemed to shatter momentarily, and red cracks formed in the sky, though they were mended within seconds. "What was that?" he shrieked.

Love's expression dropped even farther, though Little Love was now grinning from ear to ear. "Someone must have stepped on the mirror! You're staying here!"

Raven pulled Little Love off of his leg and fixed him with her own stare. "Which means that you can't leave here until I win this fight, which I probably won't. In a few minutes, Hatred will have enough energy to trap me in here as well, and then the instruments will flatline. I can't imagine how that will affect Ro..." she trailed off, as if she were listening to something.

"What is it?" he asked.

She shook her head, putting her finger to her lips. "Someone's talking to me in the real world," she replied.

"Who?" Love asked, suddenly interested.

Raven didn't answer, but Love knew anyway, and she slowly grinned. "Who?" Beast Boy asked, breaking the silence.

Love turned back to him with an evil smile. "Robin," she replied.

Beast Boy's heart dropped into his stomach. Raven was so intent on listening to what Robin had to say, he didn't have a chance. Even Little Love didn't have enough influence to keep him around long enough to help! He sighed. "I see," he said slowly.

Raven's eyes slowly widened, and she turned to her counterparts. "You're not going to believe this," she said slowly, her hand running through her hair.

"What happened?" Beast Boy asked urgently.

She looked right at him, and he knew what she was going to say before she said it. "Starfire...?" he ventured.

She nodded numbly. "She's gone. Robin's slipping over the edge with depression, and I was about to go out there and comfort him, but I was cut off..." she trailed off, pointing up at the sky, where four eyes now presided over them.

"No..." he said slowly. "Not them too!" He shrank down and cried, and several other emotions joined him, most especially Love and Little Love.

Present:

His entire body was numb with pain as Raven shook him. "Beast Boy! Beast Boy!"

He had taken a hard hit fighting Anger, and now he was on the ground. The emotions had called a retreat for the time being, and now they were hiding in what was left of the forest. "I'm okay, Rae!" he choked as his vision cleared.

All around him, he could hear a chorus of sighs of relief. Little Love ran up and hugged him. "We thought you were gone for good!" she sobbed happily.

He noticed that Raven also had tear marks on her cheeks. "You were that worried?" he asked quietly, and she nodded her head.

Love, meanwhile, sulked behind them. With obvious disdain for their "moment", she turned up her nose and "accidentally" stepped on his hand. "Ow!" he shouted, wincing.

She came down face-to-face with him. "You stay away from Raven, you hear! Her boy is Robin!" With that, she walked away, leaving him dumbfounded. This was a lot more complicated than he wanted to deal with right now.


	3. Chapter 2

I shall now explore new ships...and new forms of writing. DUN DUN DUN!

Disclaimer: same as always

Chapter 2

His light footsteps made no sound as he hurried through the streets. His black clothing concealed him from sight as he ducked into the shadows. It was becoming almost too easy for him to get around now that the Titans were gone. The last time he had done this, there had been more exhiliration and excitement, but at least he didn't have to feel anything BAD anymore...

So far his missions had been simple ones, stealing objects here and there, tests of his obedience. Slade was trying to make sure that he wasn't trying to pull anything, although he would have thought that after he had given his word, the villain would have believed him, but apparently nothing was sacred anymore.

So here he was, going after some new form of blaster with which he would help Slade to conquer the city. He wouldn't have admitted it in the past, but he relished this latest challenge. He got a thrill from trying to defeat the undefeated. The superheros that were once considered invincible were now his latest prey. And he enjoyed pitting his wits against theirs, because he knew that everyone expected him to lose. It was the thrill of winning despite the odds, and he enjoyed it.

The thing he enjoyed most about his current occupation, though, was the fact that now the press wouldn't come near him and he didn't have to think about anything that had happened to bring him here. Though many people refused to believe him when he said it, he was quite pleased with his decision.

There were no more hindering emotions in his life. Every moment was focused on the present, not the past. He was constantly training, plotting, or stealing. There was no time in between to think about his actions and their consequences, but there was also no time to think about her.

He wondered which of his former acquaintances would try to stop him this time. Yesterday it was Hotspot, and the day before that it was Wildebeast. No real threats had come against him yet, but he was prepared if that ever did happen.

A small explosion told him that the detonator had gone off and that he could now retrieve the device. Stealthy as always, he remained undetected as he swooped down quickly and grabbed the small package. Just seconds after he had exited, the guards rushed inside, weapons at the ready, but there was no one there.

He smiled to himself. This was getting to be too easy. He was waiting for Slade to give him something more challenging. His running footsteps were silent until he reached the roof. There the metal of his boots met the metal rooftop, and a soft pitter patter of footsteps resounded through the quiet night air.

A blur of red and yellow rushed towards him, and he sighed in annoyance and recognition. At least this would be some form of a challenge. The blur stopped in front of him: Kid Flash.

And Kid Flash had brought a friend with him, he noted with some disdain as he saw Jinx behind the young hero. The former criminal smirked. "This is new; aren't you normally the one trying to stop me?" she laughed.

This was one of the advantages of being Slade's willing apprentice; he could talk to them. It wasn't like he was going to say anything nice to them anyway. "Back off Jinx. I'd hate to have to waste you when you're so new to the hero business."

Kid Flash stepped in front of his girlfriend protectively. "Leave her alone!" he growled.

He gave a low bark of laughter. "Cute, Kid Flash, but she won't stay with you forever. Move on with your life," he advised.

"I won't take that too badly, considering you speak from experience," Jinx said quietly, her voice tinged with emotion.

Giving a shout, he charged forward, throwing several small explosives at the two to temporarily blind them. As Jinx shot a few wild shots of energy from her hands in an attempt to hit him, she accidentally hit Kid Flash.

As the fast hero stumbled backwards, he met with a strong punch. He looked down at the blinded hero before him and laughed quietly. "What did I tell you? Feelings are just hinderances," he grinned maliciously.

Kid Flash jumped to his feet and threw a punch at him, which he just ducked. Then the hero jumped to his feet and started to run around him in circles. Knowing what would come of it if he allowed the hero to succeed, he threw a small device, a version of his old birdarangs, into the blur of red and white, knocking an annoyed Kid Flash out of his circle.

A blast of purple energy sent him flying backwards, but he allowed himself to keep going so that when he landed, he was on the next rooftop. He looked up to see Jinx land in front of him, scowling. "Get a grip, lover boy! Just because Starfire is-"

"Don't. Ever. Mention. Her!" he growled, and allowed his anger to take over. He threw punch after punch, and he didn't register that he was also being hit. Kid Flash joined in the fray as well, and it was practically a free-for-all.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked an annoyed voice in his ear.

"Teaching her a lesson," he replied tersely as he delivered a swift punch to Jinx' jaw.

Slade laughed quietly. "Normally I would approve of revenge and anger, but you're straying from your objective," he reprimanded.

"I'm on it," he sighed, taking out his apprentice version of his freeze discs. First Kid Flash was frozen to the spot, then Jinx.

"Good boy," said the voice in his ear.

He growled in response, but continued to walk anyway. He didn't care that the two heros behind him were still frozen. They were no longer his concern.

TTTTTT

Red X sighed in annoyance when he saw what the kid had done. "I guess I'd better clean up this mess," he admitted grudgingly, unfreezing the two heros.

When Jinx saw who had saved her, her eyes widened in surprise. "You're supposed to be-"

He laughed, cutting her off. "Yeah, yeah. I know. I was trying to cover my tracks from Doctor Light, not Robin, but that didn't work."

"So why are you helping us?" Kid Flash asked.

He sighed. "I'm kind of stuck in the hero business now, thanks to the press. No one will ever take me seriously as a villain again."

"Makes sense," Kid Flash agreed.

"Look, I need some help," Red X said grudgingly.

"With what?" Jinx asked, dusting herself off.

He sighed. "I'm going to try and find Cyborg and put him back together."

Both mouths dropped open. "You're going to do what?"

"I just told you. Are you deaf?" he asked, annoyed.

"Man, how do you expect to do that?" Kid Flash asked.

"Well, you're fast, aren't you? Start looking everywhere. When you find something, bring it to the Tower. I'm going to try and put him back together," he replied.

When Kid Flash sped off, Jinx asked, "What are you going to do once he's put back together?"

He sighed. "I really don't know. At this point I'm just trying to revive everybody. I don't know about the Tamaranean, but I do know that if I can get Metal Man back together he can show me the way into the empath's mind."

"And then you can help to save Raven and Beast Boy. I get it," Jinx finished in awe. "It'll be hard to do," she added.

"Especially considering the fact that I'm not even used to playing the hero," he agreed.

Jinx sighed. "Me too. Just think. I've been a Titan for only a few months and already things are falling apart, and I'm supposed to help put them back together. Normally I'm the one that tears everything apart."

"And normally Robin's the one putting it back together," Red X added ruefully.

She nodded. "Everything's reversed, and I don't like it," she sighed.

He nodded. "And the former criminals are supposed to stop the leader of the Teen Titans from destroying the city. Talk about ironic," he laughed quietly.

When Jinx went to respond, he was gone. He had gone back to the Tower.

Everything was still a mess, as he remembered it. Nothing had been touched yet, as he was staying in a spare room, but he decided that he needed to bring himself to go into Cyborg's room so that he could retrieve some supplies.

A knock at the door alerted him to Jinx' presence. He sighed. He'd left her in the dust for a reason, but apparently that wasn't enough. "What do you want?" he asked when she walked in.

She was a bit taken aback by his rudeness, but she proceeded anyway. "I thought I'd take a look at...well..."

He realized what she wanted. "She's in the hospital wing. I've got to warn you, though, don't touch her," he cautioned.

She nodded. "Thanks."

Jinx walked into the hospital wing and saw Starfire lying there peacefully. She noticed the mask in her hands and the red imprint on her lips, and tears sprang to the former criminal's eyes. No wonder the kid was so heartbroken.

"There was a lot of trouble caused by those two," Red X said behind her.

Jinx whirled around. Raising an eyebrow, she asked, "So what really happened? We've all heard the rumors, but what's the truth?"

He sighed. "I don't know how she died, but I do know that the kid was devastated. There was a whole lot of commotion about him and his emotions, and I regret to say that I was part of it," he said.

"How so?" she asked curiously, sitting down on an empty bed.

He sighed, sitting down beside her. "He and Raven had some sparks too. I spotted them one night when they were having a heart-to-heart. Their faces were so close I could have sworn they were kissing, but they weren't. When I gave the two of them a hard time, it created a rift between her and the Tamaranean."

"I can imagine. Starfire's been after Robin for forever now, and for someone to insinuate that he was dating someone else would be heartbreaking," Jinx nodded.

"Don't rub it in. I feel guilty enough. Anyway, after Robin got captured and had a problem with the xinothium mixture he'd been fed, he and Starfire had a moment or something, and he decided that his feelings for the empath were limited to friendship. Well, that didn't go over well, and Raven nearly killed him. Which, of course, meant that she had to go into her own mind to calm herself down, but it was risky. Her anger was getting the best of her, and she got trapped in her mind."

"And Beast Boy?" Jinx pressed.

"He went in after her. When Robin got back with Starfire's body, he discovered the two of them, and from what I can gather, he went beserk," he continued. Then he paused. "Let me show you something."

She followed him down the hallways and into Robin's room. He paused in front of the door. "I'm going to show you just how devastated the kid was. Maybe this will help explain why he is what he is right now."

She nodded as the door opened, then gasped. Shards of glass were everywhere, and blood stained the carpet, bed, and walls. The only picture that wasn't destroyed was a bloody, tear-stained picture of Robin and Starfire. A few tears fell from her eyes as she held the picture. Something caught her eye, and she flipped the frame over. "X, take a look at this!" she cried out, removing the picture from its frame.

"He wrote something on the back," Red X noted, looking over her shoulder.

She read it aloud, and more tears fell from her eyes as she did so. It was a poem.

Those gentle eyes that drew me in

Now closed forever more

The shadows of darkness begin

To eat at my very core

This broken heart that I now bear

Within my blood-stained chest

Is now torn without repair

I cannot endure this test

That loving laugh that filled my soul

With joy each time it rang

Now gone, leaving a dark hole

In my being where it once sang

My innocent love, my princess

Shall never more hear me say

That without her life is useless

And that my love shall never stray

Now left with nothing more to do

I am naught but an empty shell

My life is nothing without you

So now this tale I tell

My love for you was endless

You fell from heaven's arms

This death was purely senseless

To take from me your charms

I still love you, Starfire.


	4. Chapter 3

Ta da! More depressing stuff! And the Rob/Rae lovers should ADORE Love now.

Disclaimer: if it changes, please tell me

Chapter 3

Raven sighed as she examined her wounds. She still walked with a limp, so she had been levitating everywhere. Unfortunately, that was taking away from her precious energy, so it was quite a relief to sit down for a while.

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. And thought about Robin. She had been too hard on him, she knew, and now he needed her, but she couldn't be there for him. She wondered what he was doing with himself now that he was alone. He had sounded so...sad when he had talked to her. She'd never heard him so emotional before.

Sometimes when she closed her eyes, she could still see his surprised expression when she had blasted him off of the roof of the Tower. Now more than ever she regretted that. She had caused him to be stuck in the hospital, and prevented him from getting to Starfire in time. But he thought that it was her fault she was this way, poor thing. She could tell by the way he had been talking to her, he was a broken man.

At least now when she thought about him, there was no hatred in her mind. Now she only knew guilt and sadness when his name came up. She had let her own feelings get in the way, and perhaps caused the destruction of her best friend. And all because she had let herself open up enough to love. She feared she would never love again.

"Raven?" Beast Boy's voice interrupted her thoughts. She opened her eyes to see his concerned face in front of him. She tried to fake a smile, but it didn't work. "What's wrong?" the changeling asked, concern edged in his voice.

She sighed. "I was just thinking about everything that's happened. It's all my fault, Beast Boy, and I can't keep going on like this!" she choked back her tears.

"Oh, Raven," he sighed, sitting down beside her and smiling encouragingly. "It's not your fault. You couldn't help it that the xinothium got into your system!"

"But that's just it! I lost control when Doctor Light was trying to hurt Starfire, and I only made the problem worse! If I hadn't been so wrapped up in my own feelings, this never would have happened!" she shouted, tears pouring down her cheeks.

"Don't say that!' he reprimanded. "You had no control over the situation, and nothing that happened was your fault! Stop blaming yourself, Rae!"

She knew he didn't mean anything with that nickname, but it still stung her heart just the same. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed, "I pushed Robin off the cliff, and he was only trying to protect me when he got captured. If I hadn't been there, none of this would have happened, and everything would have been just fine. We'd all be sitting in the Tower together. Starfire..." she choked. "Starfire would be cooking something Tamaranean, and we'd all try to find an excuse not to eat it..." She burst into tears, burrying her face into his chest and letting all her emotions flow out.

He gently stroked her hair, and she felt a little bit better as he whispered, "It's okay, Raven. Just let it all out. It's okay to cry."

She rested her head against his warm embrace. It just felt so right to be here with him. "Beast Boy?"

He looked down lovingly at her. "Yeah, Rae?"

Whatever she had been about to say was lost at the pain that overwhelmed her heart at that name. She turned her head to the other side, silent tears pouring down her cheeks as she tried not to think about the memories that the nickname held for her.

"What's wrong? What did I say?" he asked, concerned.

She sighed. "Nothing," she replied, wiping her tears and sitting up straight. "Thanks for being my pillow," she laughed, trying to change the subject.

He grinned and his eyes sparkled. "Anytime," he replied.

She looked away so that he couldn't see her blushing. "Beast Boy?" she asked.

"Yes?" he replied, eyes shining with anticipation.

As she stared at the ground, she said, "Thanks for being there for me." She heard him give a small squeal, and she laughed slightly. "I know I acted like I hated you, but I only did that so you wouldn't know how I felt, and, well, now that you're here, I'm starting to feel that way again." She sighed. "It's getting confusing again. I thought Robin was the one for me, but you're here too..." She trailed off. But when she looked up, Beast Boy wasn't there.

"What did you do that for!" he shouted as soon as whichever Raven it was had set him down. He shivered; he hated being covered in dark energy, especially when it tore him away from Raven.

"I told you to leave Raven alone!" growled a voice in the trees.

He recognized the tone. "Love? I wasn't doing anything, I promise! Raven was just having a meltdown, and I just happened to be there," he stammered.

Love stepped out into the light, her eyes blazing. "If I ever see you caressing her like that again, you can say goodbye to all your internal organs!" she shouted angrily.

He backed away, but tripped over a root in the forest and landed on his back. "But-"

Her eyes flashed dangerously. "Let me make this as clear as I can. Raven likes Robin. End of story. I can't have you messing up my plans, alright? I hope you understand me when I say that I am the most powerful emotion in here right now besides Anger, and I could take you out right now, but Raven would kill me if I did, so I won't for now, but maybe during battle I may just slip!"

His eyes widened in fear, and he had to keep his voice from faltering. "Okay, I get it," he answered.

As if she had completely changed into a different person, Love grinned broadly. "I'm glad we understand each other!" she laughed, then walked off.

He shook his head in confusion. "I'll never understand girls," he sighed.

TTTTTTTT

A flash of red and white alerted him to Kid Flash's presence, and she turned quickly so that the speedy hero would not have a chance to see what she had been doing. With one hand, she hid the poem from sight, and with the other, she wiped the tears. She would never forgive herself if he knew how badly shaken she was.

"I found a few nuts and bolts, as well as a hand," Kid Flash said, his tone solemn as he laid the parts down. She stared up at him wonderingly, and he sighed. "It just feels weird to be carrying around...someone's body parts."

She winced at the words. Now that he mentioned it... "Yeah, I guess it would be pretty akward. Anything that might fit together yet?" She peered at him and noticed that his hair had flopped over his face. He wouldn't show it, but he was exhausted.

He shook his head. "Nothing yet. Should I go back?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No! You're too tired!" she admonished, sitting him down in the chair forcefully. With a grin and a snap of her fingers, she opened the refrigerator door. Strolling that way, she grabbed a large water bottle and handed it to him. "Drink up; you're going to need your strength."

He grinned cockily at her, that same cocky grin that had pulled her in in the first place. "So you're worried about me?"

She rolled her eyes. "That not what I-"

He laughed happily. "You were worried about me. YES!" Just for show, he did a few laps, but when he was done, he was gasping for breath.

"Well, this worried girlfriend says that you should lay down, alright?" she reprimanded laughingly, practically pushing him back down into the chair.

That's when he saw the poem. "What's that?" he asked, grabbing for it.

"Nothing," she said quickly, grabbing it before he could get to it and hiding it behind her back.

"Come on, don't hide things from me!" he teased, ducking this way and that, trying to get around her to get to the paper. Finally, he rushed behind her faster than she could react and grabbed it from her.

"Hey!" she shouted, actually annoyed.

He laughed. "I'll give it back. Why do you have a crumpled up piece of paper anyway?" he asked as he unfolded it. His eyes widened when he saw the bloody, tear-stained photo. "oh."

She sighed, coming up behind him. "If you really want to know what it is, flip it over," she suggested, reaching around his waist and doing so so that he could see the scrawl on the back.

As he read the poem, his eyes widened, and his mouth made a small "o" shape. He whistled finally, and he whispered, "The kid's really gone off the deep end, hasn't he?"

She nodded. "He really, deeply cared for her. Think about it; how would you feel if right after you and I hooked up I died?"

He stepped back as if an invisible weight had been placed on him. "Don't even joke like that! I'd hate it if you left me! We've been through so much together that..."

She nodded as realization dawned on him. "Don't be too hard on him. He's had to go through a lot lately, and it's only natural," she whispered sadly.

He whistled again. "This is a lot to take in. It all changed so fast," he muttered, sinking farther into the chair.

"Just drink your water, okay?" she suggested, sticking her head out into the hallway and looking both ways, as if expecting something.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

She blushed furiously as she came back inside. "I was just wondering where he went. Red X. He was just here five minutes ago. He must have left when I started crying," she admitted ruefully.

"It's a lot to take in, huh?" he muttered.

She sighed. "When I was in the Hive Five, I never would have cried like this, or even cared about it if I lost someone. But with you guys, you made such good friends and took me in so easily and quickly..." She gulped. "Starfire especially. She was the one who accepted me the easiest, besides you."

"How's that?"

"When I first told the others that I was good, they had a hard time believing it, but not Starfire. She came right up to me and gave me one of her bear hugs..." She sniffed a bit, then continued, "and the others accepted me after much persuasion on her part."

He laughed. "I guess they figured that if you would endure one of those killer hugs, then you were on their side."

She laughed as well, gently ruffling his hair. A sudden, forceful cough at the doorway alerted them to another presence, and she spun around. "How long have you been standing there?" she asked, blushing, as she realized that it was Red X.

He gave a low, short, bark of laughter. "I seem to always walk in at the worst times. But I've learned my lesson; I won't say anything if you two promise not to kill each other by the end of the day," he said sarcastically.

She was a bit shocked at the sardonic manner that X discussed the manner with. "Don't you feel the least bit guilty?" she asked accusingly.

He sighed, turning on his heel and walking towards her with heavy footsteps. "I thought I told you that already. I'd rather not discuss it right now, but please, don't. Bring. It. Up." he said harshly, eyes narrowed.

She was taken aback, but then her eyes glowed angrily. "I can't believe you! You had a part in this whole thing and you're not even sad about it!"

He whirled on her, grabbing her by the arms. Silencing a cry from Kid Flash, he said, "Chill, kid, I'm just having a word with her."

She glared up at him. "It's true, and I'm not going to take it back," she persisted defiantly.

He sighed, his head drooping a bit before snapping back up to meet her eyes. "Listen, kid. I try not to let people know how I feel. There's nothing wrong with that," he said.

"Except that it's what got Robin into this mess in the first place!" she snapped back.

He growled, but still refrained from hurting her. "Look. I know that, okay? Even I'm not that closed. I just deal with grief differently than most people. I've been a lot of places, and seen a lot of things I wish I hadn't, and after a while, the best I can do in this kind of situation is to just keep working and treat it as if it was just another part of life."

He let her go, and she dropped her gaze. Finally, she voiced her fears. "Are any of them really going to make it?"

He sighed in response. "I don't know, but I feel partially responsible, and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure I fix it," he replied, determination etched into his voice.


	5. Chapter 4

Let's bring back some of that initial shock, shall we? Needs something besides emotions, don't you think? Shall I kill someone else off? Or should I bring someone back? Take your pick, or just read the chapter. It gets kinda chessy near the end, sorry about that. 

Disclaimer: same old same old

Chapter 4

It was just another mission, something to take his mind off of everything else, something to keep himself fit. It shouldn't be too hard, and there shouldn't have been any challenges. That's what he'd thought.

And yet here he was, staring at the dark-clad figure before him with unbelieving eyes. He knew that outfit; he'd constructed it himself, but how could there possibly be anyone in there when he had...?

The figure laughed. "Don't act so surprised, kid. Just because I was in hiding to gain back my health doesn't mean I was gone," it said.

"Red X," he finally growled, having found his voice. "What are you doing here? Leave me alone!" he practically shouted, taking a fighting stance.

But X merely laughed. "Kid, didn't I tell you that your emotions would push you off the edge? I guess you didn't take my advice," he pointed out.

He bared his teeth, charging forward with all his might, detemined to hit this annoying teen in front of him. "Leave. Me. Alone!" he shouted as he did so. Was that so much to ask?

Red X nimbly dodged his attack, swerving to throw a punch of his own, but he saw it coming and dodged it. The two of them proceeded to tumble wordlessly for some time before X finally spoke up again. "We're trying to find Cyborg and put him back together," he said quietly as he rolled on the ground to avoid and aerial attack.

"Trying. Bringing the others back won't change what happened," he replied tersely.

Red X shook his head. "That's just it, kid. If we can get Cyborg, we can get into Raven's mind and help her out as well. We'd have almost everybody back, and you could come back to us as well," he suggested gently.

He shook his head stubbornly. "I'm sure Raven hates me, and besides, being around everybody would only remind me that..." He paused for a moment, emotion overwhelming his heart as he thought about the girl that would be missing. He composed himself quickly, though, in order to dodge another attack.

"That she's gone?" Red X finished quietly.

With a cry, he lunged forward, trying to eliminate this person in front of him. But he kept dodging smartly. There was no escaping it; the two of them were evenly matched. His opponent was silent, and the screaming in his own soul rang in his ears. "You're going to have to face the truth, kid. You can't keep hiding from yourself," X said.

He sighed as both opponents leaned against the wall to catch their breath. Finally, he said something. "I can try," he said simply, his pain etched into his tired voice. The fight had drained him emotionally, simply because seeing this guy brought back painful memories.

The opponent shrugged. "Well, don't."

He sighed in exasperation. "Don't you know how to leave me alone?" he asked.

X laughed. "If I did, would I still be here?" he replied.

He growled. "Take a hint. Hit the road," he replied angrily, throwing several pellets his way to blind him. Forget fighting; he just wanted to get out of there so he didn't have to talk anymore...

He reported back to the lair, device in hand and evident smirk. "Have fun?" asked the voice that normally would have caused him to flinch. Now, he found solice in that voice, as it kept him from thinking of other things.

"Absolutely," he replied sardonically, smirk still present. With nothing to stand in his way, he was fast becoming like Slade, something he would before have dreaded.

The hand reached out to take the device, and a similar smirk was present in the eye. It was strange, how fast he had taken a liking to this life, but he supposed it was simply because he was so sad. It was no surprise to him that Slade immediately afterwards said, "Well, then, I think you'll enjoy your next mission."

He grinned back. "Which is?"

A VERY familiar face appeared behind Slade. "I need a very destructive weapon if we're going to conquer the city," the man said.

He grinned broadly; he was going to have fun with this. "When do I leave?" he asked.

TTTTTTTT

The plan was simple: using Beast Boy as a decoy, they would distract Anger long enough for Intelligence to provide a sneak attack advantage to the eyes. After that, Little Love and Love would both attack forcefully with everything they had. Raven and the other emotions would immediately follow up, and with a combined attack they might be able to gain an advantage. All Beast Boy had to do was keep Anger occupied.

But Raven wasn't sure she was ready to let him put himself in jeopardy. He'd already been injured once trying to help her, and to ask him to do it a second time would be a horrific crime. But it was neccessary in order for them both to escape, and he had already made it perfectly clear that he was not leaving without her. There was no escaping this option.

Of course, Love wasn't devastated at all by this suggestion. In fact, she was the one who had mentioned it to him. The girl wasted no time in getting rid of her enemies, and she was good at it too. If Love wasn't such a strong emotion and so vital to the plan, Raven would have throttled her. It would at least have simplified the problem of confusion between lovers.

So now she watched as Beast Boy waved crazily at her before transforming into a falcon and taking off. Her eyes never left that green bird, and she saw each and every movement of its wings. She wouldn't let anything happen to him if it killed her. He had risked so much for her, that she would be ungrateful to let him suffer for her sake.

He dived at her emotion, pecking at her head and neck before transforming into a T-Rex and latching on to her ear, refusing to let go even as the emotion screamed in pain and shook her head wildly in an attempt to knock him off. He held fast until a small ray of black energy that penetrated Anger's eye signified Intelligence's attack.

Immediately, Love and Little Love jumped forward. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" they both shouted in unison, combining their energies together to attack Anger.

"ARGH!" the red-clad emotion roared, rearing back in pain at the sudden attack.

"Now's our chance. Ravens, attack!" Bravery shouted, striking a very Beast Boy-like pose.

Raven stifled a pleased giggle at Bravery's attempt at light-heartedness despite the circumstances. "Just attack already!" she shouted back, her own eyes glowing to match the other emotions around her.

She came up next to Love, who was straining with the power needed to maintain such a steady stream of energy. "When I give the word, break off, and I'll take your place. I need you to go around to the back where she's most vulnerable," she whispered tersely as she narrowly avoided a stream of red energy...red?

Beast Boy came running up beside her, holding a fallen Intelligence. "Raven, I think Anger found the xinothium," he said simply, holding up the shivering emotion.

"Th-th-that st-st-st-stuff p-p-p-packs a-a-a-a w-w-w-wall-l-l-l-lop," Intelligence said, shaking from the shock her body was going through.

"Little Love, get over here and heal Intelligence! Rude, take her place!" Raven barked, beads of sweat beginning to form on her brow.

"How are we going to get out of this one?" Beast Boy asked as another blast of xinothium burnt a hole in the already wilting ground.

"I don't know. Right now I'm focusing on just weakening her," Raven replied through clenched teeth.

Suddenly, Beast Boy gave a small yelp, then fell silent as he too felt the sting of xinothium in himself. "Hey!" he shouted in surprise, then fell silent as his head stuck the ground. He didn't get back up.

"Xinothium didn't just make me grow!" Anger laughed as she charged up for another attack.

As she watched him fall to the ground, her heart was overcome with fury- not anger, but a completely new emotion that she hadn't felt since she and...and Starfire...had switched bodies- it was righteous fury, and she was teeming with it.

"You do NOT just do what I think you just did!" she shouted, doubling the intensity of her attack until the edges of her sight were blurred. Still, she pressed onward, no doubt striking fear into the other emotions at this sudden surge of energy.

"Careful," Timid warned quietly.

"It's okay," Raven heard Love whisper. "This is righteous fury. We haven't seen this surface for some time. Just sit back and watch."

She grinned with exhiliration as power surged around her. "Get out of my mind!" she screamed, attacking once more. This time, Anger shrank down a bit more, emitting a wailing screech that filled the air with its horrid sound.

"That's right! Who's in control now?" Bravery cheered.

"I've tried not to use brute force, I've tried to keep myself from losing control, but when you mess with either of my boys, you're going to get it!" she continued angrily, intensifying her attack until her eyesight was completely blurred. All she could see was her own black energy, and yet she pressed on.

"And another thing, stop making me try to hurt my friends!" she wailed, and Anger was in complete agony at this point.

Love snapped out of her stupor. "Come on, we've got to help her! She's finally ahead!" she shouted, waving the other emotions forwards.

With energy blasts from all directions, it was only a matter of time before Anger was reduced to her normal size. The red-clad emotion fell over with a weak groan, and immediately Love and Little Love rushed over to escort her to her normal cage.

But Raven wasn't paying any attention to that. Immediately, she rushed over to where Beast Boy lay, shivering, on the ground. "Beast Boy!" she shouted despite herself as she rushed to his side. He was shivering uncontrollably and his eyes seemed to stare right past her. He could not see.

"R-R-R-Raaaaven?" Beast Boy replied through chattering teeth as his hands groped around for what he could not see.

Her heart nearly burst. She leaned forward so that he could feel her face. "It's me, Beast Boy! I'm here. You're going to be okay," she sobbed. She wished she could see his face, but all she could see was a blurry outline.

"R-r-r-r-rav-v-v-v-v-ven, I'm s-s-s-so c-c-c-cold!" he stammered.

Tears poured down her cheeks; she felt so helpless! "You're going to be alright. Hang on, Beast Boy," she sobbed. She was trying to convince herself more than anything.

A broad grin spread over his face. "Y-y-y-you'r-r-r-re w-w-w-w-orr-rr-rr-rried ab-b-b-bout m-m-me, aren't y-y-y-ou?" he teased.

She put his fingers to her lips so that he knew she was smiling. "Why shouldn't I be?" she asked softly as Little Love arrived on the scene.

"Beast Boy!" the shorter emotion sobbed, flinging herself around his shivering figure.

"L-l-l-l-little L-l-l-l-love?" he stammered laughingly, though his voice was growing weaker. Raven had to surpress a laugh at the look on his face, but this laughter quickly faded at the gasp of pain that immediately followed.

"Beast Boy, don't leave me!' the little girl sobbed.

"Yes, don't leave me," Raven echoed even as her own eyesight began to fade.

"Rae..." he sighed, and his chest rose and fell, then was still.

"No..." she whispered, pressing her ear to his chest. "NO!" she shouted, her soul self erupting into the air.

"Is he...?" Little Love whispered, tears falling down her own cheeks.

She tried to calm down. She checked for a pulse, but there was nothing. "I can't find a pulse!" she shouted despairingly.

Bravery and Love rushed to her side. Both attempted to charge up their healing powers and help out, but the fight had exhausted them. Rude, Timid, and even Confusion joined in, and finally the green lids lifted slightly, then fell again. "It's not working!" Little Love sobbed.

"Try harder!" Raven shouted desperately. Come on, Beast Boy...come on...

Finally, Love pulled away, shaking her head sadly. Surprisingly, there were tears in this emotion's eyes. "We can't do anything more," she sighed, exhausted.

"Yes, you can!" Little Love shouted, trying herself.

Love crawled around beside Raven. "I didn't like him, but I wouldn't wish this on him," she muttered sadly.

Raven hugged her knees tightly, her own consciousness slipping. "Can't we do something?"

Love shook her head sadly. "There's not enough energy. Even if we were fully powered, I doubt that we could have done much for him. We would have needed something to slow down the process five minutes ago, and then he might have lived for a few more days," she replied, hanging her head.

Raven shook her head wildly, tears destroying whatever might have remained of her sight. "He's not dead! He's not dead!" she shouted, throwing herself over him.

Suddenly, she felt his chest rise and fall once more, and joy swept over her heart. "Beast Boy?" she asked hopefully.

Those green eyes fluttered open for a moment. "Angel..." he muttered deliriously. Then, his head drooped to one side and his eyes closed again. He had stopped breathing again.

"No..." she sobbed. "Don't do this to me!" she shouted, shaking his limp form. "We just won! You can't leave now!"

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Timid staring down at her. The grey-clad emotion's eyes were also filled with tears. "Raven, there's nothing you can do," she said softly, offering her a hand to help her up.

She refused the gesture. "I don't believe it. We were so close..." she whimpered. She hugged his body close to her own heart, sobbing unconctrollably until blackness had crept in around her mind. With one last, feeble sob, she slumped over the boy's lifeless form. The two were perfectly still, lying on the cold ground together in a puddle of blood, xinothium, and tears.

Author's Note: Yes, I DID have fun with the keyboard.


	6. Chapter 5

Did anyone ever say that Robin went over the edge? Naw, he's still floating in the desperate pool of insanity. In the middle of it.

Disclaimer: still the same

Chapter 5

"Raven, wake up. You need to return to your own life. Raven? Raven!"

She groaned, her eyes fluttering open to see a fully grown Bravery sitting beside her, gently shaking her. "How...?" she groaned quietly.

Bravery smiled. "We had a little fun with the xinothium. Intelligence figured out a way to reverse the...um...how did she say it?...adverse effects on our vertical growth and make us bigger again," the green-clad emotion replied.

"Does that mean she can...?" Raven didn't finish the question, for she feared the answer. Her hands instinctively went around Beast Boy's head, and she bit her lip, waiting for the reply.

Bravery shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry, Raven, but not even Intelligence can figure out a way to reverse death," she said.

She sighed. "It was a nice thought," she muttered, resting her head on Beast Boy's.

"I'm sorry," said a voice behind her, and she felt a hand on her shoulder. When she turned, she looked up into sad, remorseful eyes.

"Love? What do you have to be sorry about?" she asked sadly. "You didn't do this to him."

Love shook her head sadly. "I know, but I suggested his role. I wanted him gone so that you would be able to love Robin, but now I realize that even the part of you that loves Robin needed Beast Boy. It's a strange thing, really, love for family and friends. It's almost infinite, and I think that's what you unlocked inside of yourself. I'm sorry I ever tried to get rid of him," she sighed.

She nodded. "It's okay. You didn't mean anything by it. I've felt jealousy before, remember?" she reassured the distressed, pink-clad emotion.

Little Love came running up to her. Actually, Love II ran up to her. She was now fully grown, though her energetic personality was still present. "Come back to talk to me soon, okay?'" she sobbed. She glanced over at Beast Boy. "I must only have seemed like a small child to him..." She reached out to pet his hair, then hesitated. "May I?"

She nodded. "Of course."

Love II stroked the green hair, now plastered down with tears and sweat. She whispered something that was unheard by anyone else, and tears poured down her face and onto his own. Raven could make out part of what she was saying, "Oh, my sweet, optimistic, fun-loving Beast Boy, my loving, caring, affectionate friend..."

Love's hand came down on her sisters shoulder. "Come on, Raven needs to get back to her own life. She may still be able to help the others," she said quietly.

"Who is there left to help?" Timid asked quietly, appearing out of the forest. "Everyone's gone."

Raven bit her lip. "I don't know. What am I going to do when I get back and nobody's home except a depressed teenage guy?"

"If Robin's even there at all," Bravery muttered, then glanced around at the angry expressions around her. "What? It's true!"

Raven shook her head. "I guess I had to take him back anyway," she sighed, closing her eyes and beginning her chant.

"Goodbye!" "We'll miss you!" "Come back soon!" the cries came from around her, and she tried to tune them out as she concentrated her mind on bringing both herself and Beast Boy back to the present.

Jinx had never been inside Raven's room before,except when she had been inside to invade the wardrobe, and what with her boyfriend being elsewhere and the other occupant of the tower being...moody, to put it mildly, she found herself wondering what was inside now that the girl had changed.

Well, it was a very big change in the room, but not because of personality changes. Stuff was strewn everywhere, and bookshelves had fallen all over the place. She sighed. Perhaps, now that she was on the good side, she owed it to Raven to tidy up a little bit.

She spotted a stray plug and started in surprise. She hadn't known that Raven had electricity in here. Stepping carefully over the empath's fallen figure, she plugged it in. Several small machines lit up around her, showing her Raven's bloodstream and brainwaves. Currently, everything was a flat line, but even as Jinx watched, there was a slight pulse in the green line on the screen.

At first, she thought that her eyes might be deceiving her, but there was no mistaking it; it happened again. "Raven's coming back," she whispered incredulously, as reality set in. A broad smile broke over her face at this new ray of light. "She's coming back!" she shouted once more.

She threw open the door and rushed into the hallways. Where was that darn Red X. "She's coming back!" she shouted into the training room, where a startled Red X jumped up off of the exercise equipment.

"Who?" he asked quietly, and she saw him turn away for a moment to regain his composure in an attempt to hide whatever emotion he had just been hiding.

"Raven!" she shouted exuberantly. At the point, anything was good news, even if this meant having to deal with someone in the hospital wing who would need attention much of the time...

"She is?" he repeated, and he had to really struggle to keep his voice devoid of emotion.

She nodded. "Come on. She's waking up!" she cried, grabbing his arm and practically dragging him through the halls.

"I've never seen you this happy before," he said as he pulled away when they reached Raven's room.

She grinned at him, but her eyes fell. "At this point, any news that isn't horribly depressing is good news," she sighed.

He nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Let's go see this ray of hope, shall we?" he joked lightly, pushing the door open.

The machines had started to beep more incessantly, and, oddly, something green flickered beside Raven's still figure. 'What's that?" Jinx asked when she noticed it.

Suddenly, Raven's arms started to move around the space that had flickered, and tears started to flow down her cheeks depite her unconscious state. The green flicker came back, but this time strengthened. It grew until it filled up the space Raven seemed to be grasping. It was a green face, completely still. "Beast Boy?" Red X cried out despite himself. "I thought..."

Jinx couldn't help but be surprised as well. As she watched, the green light eventually grew to become the whole body of Beast Boy. But she wasn't paying attention to the brilliant magic taking place, but rather the fact that the changeling did not move, and that his hair was plastered to his head with sweat and...tears. "Something's not right," she whispered to Red X as she saw the tears fall more freely down Raven's face.

Suddenly, Raven's eyes snapped open, and the girl gauged her surroundings. She pushed herself up, one hand still clutching Beast Boy's own hand. "Jinx? What are you doing in my room? And Red X? I thought you were...?"

Jinx smiled sadly. "Don't worry about it right now. As for right now, we're taking you both to the hospital wing. You've got a pretty nasty gash on your leg, and it looks like he's unconscious. We need to treat those wounds," she admonished gently.

Raven's eyes filled with tears once more as she glanced over at Beast Boy. "I don't think you can do much for him," she admitted despairingly.

Red X's eyes widened. "You don't mean...?"

Raven nodded her confirmation. "I lost him when we were fighting Anger. Apparently, xinothium is also present in my mind, although I think we got rid of it all," she explained, her tears struggling to make themselves known.

Jinx burst into her own tears. "NO! This was supposed to be a good thing!" she shouted, refusing to believe Raven.

Raven was about to say more when her gem began to blink rapidly. She looked down at it with a mixture of surprise and confusion on her face. She looked around at the walls of her room, and finally asked, "Why isn't the alarm going off as well?"

Jinx looked at the floor. "We disabled it. It kept going off all the time ever since..."

Raven's eyes narrowed. "Ever since what?" she pressed.

Jinx couldn't find her voice to answer, so Red X did for her. "Robin went off the deep end," he said bluntly, earning a hard glare from Jinx.

"Oh no. What did he do?" Raven asked, fear rising in her voice.

Jinx put a hand on the empath's shoulder. "He didn't kill himself. It's even worse than that, though, so he might as well have," she said quietly.

"He didn't go to Slade, did he?" Raven asked, realization and fear hitting her all at once. "Did he?" he repeated.

"Raven, I'm sorry..." Jinx sighed miserably.

The tears poured down the empath's cheeks like torrents of rain. "I just came back from the worst fight of my life only to find my old life in shambles," she muttered, mostly to herself. She looked down at her blinking gem. "I've got to talk to him and try to talk sense back into him!" she declared, getting up and dusting herself off.

Red X stopped her. "I don't think so. I've already tried that. He's beyond hope," he said.

"Maybe I can change that. After all, he'll think I'm back from my grave," Raven pointed out, shoving his hand off of her shoulder.

Jinx shook her head. "There's not much help you can give, even now. He's so far gone that he's ENJOYING it!" she nearly shouted.

Raven turned to the reformed witch with emotionless eyes. "All I can do is try. Don't ask me to hope, because I can't anymore. My hope is gone with those two boys, and I don't need you telling me that I can't try to prevent my best friend from living an empty life." As she spoke, her voice was close to a whisper, yet she commanded their attention with her words.

Finally, Jinx spoke up. "I don't think you'll do much, but if it makes you feel better, than you can go ahead and try," she sighed.

This was going to be the most fun he'd had in at least a month, he thought as he crept through the old warehouse. Not only would he be stealing a very valuable weapon, but he would be able to get his revenge. He would be stealing from Chang and Light.

His footsteps were light as he ran across the balcony, and he remained undetected by the guards as he placed a small gas bomb in the venthilation system. Only the weapons room would be unaffected, and that was where he would confront those two villains for the last time, without their henchmen.

He closed the door behind him as he entered the lab, grabbing several different instruments powered by xinothium. These would all be very helpful indeed, he thought as he pocketed them.

"Look who we have here," said a voice behind him that he immediately identified as his most hated enemy.

He whirled around, eyes narrowed and voice loaded with hatred. "Chang, long time no see," he retorted angrily.

Doctor Light came up behind the villain. "What happened to you?" he sneered, looking the former Boy Wonder over.

He growled ferally. "I've had some life changes since our last encounter. Needless to say, this time I won't be going easy on you at all. I'm not bound by any 'hero's code' anymore," he grinned maliciously.

Doctor Light smirked back. "Then this should be an interesting challenge," he laughed, charging up for an attack.

"A very short challenge, actually," he smirked back, pulling out one of the blasters he had stolen earlier. Cocking the weapon, he leveled it with Chang's chest and fired. The man fell to the ground with a groan, though the eye movement signified that he was still alive. Shame.

"Didn't you already learn your lesson?" Doctor Light sneered, sending a blast of xinothium flying towards him.

"Nope," he replied smartly, dodging the attack nimbly and attacking with his own weapon.

"It's not me you're mad at, you know," Doctor Light said almost laughingly.

"Right. Because me growling at you doesn't mean anything," he replied sarcastically.

"You're mad at yourself, aren't you?"

He stopped dead in his tracks. Light had hit a nerve. "I-"

"You wish you could have saved her, don't you? But you couldn't, and now-"

Doctor Light was cut short by a hoarse cry from the former Boy Wonder as he lunged forward to attack. He was holding an extremely sharp gadget, something very similar to his old birdarangs. Blow after blow fell down, and he didn't register anything but the intense hatred he felt for the man before him. He kept going, practically ripping the man apart limb from limb until he had the villain pinned beneath him.

"Say hello to Starfire for me, won't you?" he snarled, bringing the weapon back for the final blow.

"ROBIN!" shouted a voice in the doorway. He paid no attention to it, and drove his weapon forward for the final blow, but it suddenly stopped.

"What?" he gasped, looking down at his arm, which was now covered in a very familiar black energy. As if in a daze, he looked up to see Raven.

"Please..." she cried, tears pouring down her cheeks even as she held out her hand to stop him. "Don't make me hurt you," she whispered, her lower lip quivering.

But he was immune to tears. Nothing mattered to him at the time but destroying the pathetic man before. "Don't try and stop me, Raven. He has it coming," he growled, using his other hand to prepare another blow.

He suddenly felt himself being forced up against the wall, though she had not touched him. She came up right in front of his face, her soaked cheeks and lifeless eyes now right in front of him. "Please. I didn't fight for a month just to come back to this!" she sobbed.

He looked away as his heart pricked with emotions, a new feeling to him after weeks of seclusion. "He's the one...who..." he growled, not wanting to talk about it.

"He did Starfire in, didn't he? Robin, please, don't do this to yourself! You can't change it! Please, move on!" she urged, choking on the emotion in her voice.

He turned to her, placing both hands on her shoulder. "Raven, please. Don't try and stop me," he whispered, then turned to see Doctor Light and Chang gone. He whirled on her. "Look what you did!" he shouted angrily.

She backed away slowly. "I didn't..."

"They got away!" he shouted, grabbing her arm forcefully.

"Robin..." she stuttered.

He growled angrily at her. "Leave me alone!" he shouted, tightening his grip.

With one last, fearful look back, she phased through the wall, leaving him alone. He grabbed his hair with his fists, rolling on the ground. "What's wrong with me?" he moaned finally.


	7. Chapter 6

I've always thought that Jinx and Raven would be good friends, and I've always thought that Wintergreen and Robin would be good friends too. Just saying...

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 6

It wasn't that surprising to him that the empath came back in tears. In fact, he really didn't care about tears anymore, so long as nobody was fatally injured or something. At this point, he was focused on one thing and one thing only, and that was trying to make up for the mayhem that he had caused.

So when she went straight to her room, he did nothing to go after her. She would eventually grow used to the fact that the kid was beyond help, and she would eventually become as emotionally unattached as she had once been. He knew that he was partially responsible for that, and he was doing his best to correct that.

He went straight back to the exercise room as soon as he had ensured that the empath ate something, for he knew that in a time of such depression, eating would seem tedious, and he didn't need to lose someone else. Besides, she looked like she hadn't had real food in a while. Sure enough, she practically guzzled up everything he put in front of her.

For some reason, he found solice in training. It was a time when he could be alone with his thoughts and try to compose them. He knew that emotion is what had pushed the kid off of the edge, and he wasn't about to let that happen to him as well. It was his version of meditation, he supposed, and it strengthened him.

And so he was not only annoyed, but very angry when a knock at the door interrupted him. "What do you want, and whatever it is, make it as quick as possible. I'm busy!" he snapped.

The door opened forcefully, and a thoroughly annoyed Kid Flash entered, soaked in sweat and panting as he carried five gears of various sizes and a large leg. "I'm sorry, _Your Majesty,_" he scoffed sarcastically, "but I've been carrying these around for a while and I _thought_ that you just _might_ like to have a look at it!"

This particular tone of voice was new to the normally upbeat hero, and it startled him a bit. "Chill, kid, I didn't-"

"Chill? Give me a break, X! I'm tired, and you've been so moody lately that I don't think I even _want_ to come back to bring these parts. If it wasn't for the fact that Jinx thinks that you're doing a good thing, I would have left you to yourself a long time ago!" Kid Flash sighed, annoyed.

"You and your girlfriend are starting to get on my nerves," he growled in response.

Suddenly, the speedy hero's face was right in front of his own. "Look. It takes a lot to get me this annoyed, but I've got to say, you've won the World Cup, congratulations! I'm sick and tired of you telling us that you're sorry for what happened, and then turning around and doing the exact same thing that got Robin into this position in the first place! You won't talk to anyone else, and when you do talk, you're moody and rude, and I'm pretty sure I just saw Raven sitting in the kitchen crying while Jinx alone tried to help her! You talk about stepping up for once and being a hero, but I don't see any of that happening around here! All I can see is a moody ex-criminal who can't even think about someone else for a few seconds and realize that he's hurting everybody else by doing this! So don't you try and lecture me, Red X!" he shouted.

He had to admit, he'd never seen Kid Flash this angry. It was a bit unnerving, but he shook it off. "If you don't want to try and get the Titans back..." he started.

"I'll help you find Cyborg and put him back together, but don't expect much more. I'm not going to wait on you hand and foot, and I'm not going to put up with your idiocity anymore! If you know what's good for you, you'll try to help and do _something_!" Kid Flash cried out, exasperated. "Don't try and pull the guilt trip on me!"

"Guys?" came a voice from the doorway.

Both boys whirled around to see Jinx standing in the doorway, a look of concern on her face. "What's going on?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kid Flash blushed furiosly, rubbing his hands together nervously. "I just...found some more parts and thought..."

She glared at them both. "I heard Kid Flash yelling. I've never heard him yell before. What. Happened?" she repeated more forcefully.

Kid Flash sighed. "I was just telling X that he needs to lighten up," he offered feebly.

"Is that what this is all about? Get a grip, guys! We've got enough problems on our hands without a fight breaking out, okay? So can you two find a way to deal with each other long enough for us to get the others back up on their feet?" she snapped.

"Okay," the muttered meekly in response, if only to calm her down, for the girl's eyes were glowing purple at this point, and they were beginning to worry for their personal safety.

She smiled. "Good. Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going to go help Raven clean up her room, and then we might go and pay Beast Boy a little visit and try and help her to cope with the loss. _I'm _doing something productive. Kid Flash, you need to go to bed, and Red X, find _something_ to do that's not attending to your own needs!" she sighed.

"Who died and made you queen?" Red X quipped, earning dirty looks from both present.

"Nobody made me queen, but I'm the only one that seems to be able to keep a cool head around here, so I took the wheel," she replied, annoyed.

He blew out his breath in annoyance. "Look, I just want to-"

"I don't care what _you_ want to do. You're _going _to help me out, alright?" she growled, her eyes glowing threateningly.

"Fine," he spat angrily, following her out the door. _This _was why he worked alone.

TTTTTT

"Azarath...Metrion...Zinthos," Raven chanted quietly, levitating the bookshelves back into place. She'd actually done a fair job of cleaning up by herself; all that was left to do now was to sweep up the pieces of the mirror and put the books back on their respective shelves. This she would have to do by hand, for many of her spell books had sentimental value, and it would be a shame to waste it on them.

"You wouldn't mind horribly if I made Red X help out, would you?" asked Jinx in the doorway.

She gave a short snort of laughter. "You mean you actually got him out of his room?" she joked lightly.

The dark figure crossed his arms angrily. "I'm standing right here, you know."

Jinx laughed softly, her hand on her chest. "It feels so nice to laugh, what with everything that's been happening lately," she sighed finally.

"I'm glad you're all entertained, now can we get started or something?" he growled in response.

Raven sighed. "Pick a book and put it on the shelf," she suggested.

Unfortunately, he happened to pick up the one book that she wouldn't want him to see. Malchior's book. "What's this?" he asked, flipping through the pages until he found the picture of Rorek, the eyes that she had fallen in love with. "Who's that?"

She snatched the book from his hands. "Nothing, and nobody. Give me that!" she shouted.

"What's wrong?" Jinx asked, stepping between the two of them before more flames could erupt.

Raven sighed. "Like I said, it's nothing. Just forget about it," she said quickly, then placed the book back in its trunk and locked it up. She bit her lip at the memories it brought back up in her, like when Beast Boy had helped her to feel accepted... Tears formed in her eyes; they were almost her constant companions lately.

"Are you okay?" Jinx asked kindly, shooing Red X.

"Sure, whatever. Just feel free to order me around," Red X replied sarcastically.

"You're trying my nerves," Jinx growled, using her powers to blast him out of the doorway.

Raven sighed. "I'm sorry. I must seem so pathetic right now. You guys must have been through so much more," she said sadly.

Jinx put a hand on her shoulder and took a deep breath. This 'being nice' thing was taking some getting used to, but she was getting the hang of it, she thought. "No, I'm the one that's sorry. I'm sorry that all this has happened to you and that you have to deal with all this stuff. I wish it had never happened," she said.

She grinned up at the reformed witch. "You're getting better," she laughed weakly.

Jinx grinned broadly. "Yeah, well, I've had a lot of practice what with everything that's happened lately," she replied. "You never did tell me what happened when you left to go try and bring Robin back to us," she prodded gently.

She sighed. "At first he seemed surprised to see me, but then he was so full of hate that he didn't care about it anymore," she said, choking on the emotion in her voice. "I've never felt him so cold, so unfeeling!" She sighed, tears pouring down her face as she looked up into her newly found friend's eyes. "He was going to kill Doctor Light. If I hadn't walked in when I did, I'm afraid that there would have been no hope for him anymore!" she sobbed.

Jinx's mouth dropped open. "He was going to..." she repeated numbly.

Raven nodded sadly. "I just don't understand how he could have been so far gone!" she sighed.

"Things changed him," Jinx said sadly.

"I wish they wouldn't," she sighed in response.

"Look, Raven, I'm sorry about what happened and I wish I knew what to say, but I'm still new to this whole thing," Jinx said.

"How could he have slipped so far?" she moaned.

"It's time you saw his room, then," Jinx sighed, taking her by the hand and leading her into the hallway.

TTTTTT

Normally, he would have wanted to return straight to the lair after a mission in order to avoid long, thoughtful walks, but this time was an exception. He'd just seen Raven, alive and mostly healthy, and yet all he had managed to do was hurt her. He seemed to have a knack for hurting everyone that he loved, apparently.

He couldn't stop thinking about the look on her face when he had exploded like that. She'd seemed so shocked, so frightened. He'd never seen that in Raven. Normally she was so good at hiding her emotions.

And she had come back to save him. She hadn't been concerned about her own welfare, but for his, and yet he couldn't see past his own hatred long enough to see that. "I'm such an idiot!" he moaned to himself.

He tried to clear his head as he walked into the lair. He wasn't even listening as Slade told him everything that he could have done better, and he barely registered the order to turn in for the night. All he knew was that his legs were carrying him where he needed to go, and that would suffice.

He kept hearing her voice in his head: "ROBIN!" Robin...The name seemed almost foreign to him at this point, seeing as he had been living an empty life for almost six weeks now. It brought only painful memories for him, and yet it was strangely satisfying to hear again.

He ran right into something on accident. Still in a stupor, he muttered, "Sorry," then realized how stupid it seemed to apologize to an inanimate object. But when the object moved forwards into the light, it didn't seem idiotic much longer. There was a familiar face that he'd been ignoring lately: Wintergreen.

"That's the first time I've heard you speak for some time. Are you starting to become immune to whatever sadness brought you here?" the old butler said, and though his voice was barely a whisper, he still seemed to speak with great influence.

He sighed. "No, it's actually getting worse since Rae..." he trailed off, still not ready to talk about it.

The old butler put a hand on his shoulder. "Well, it's good to see that you're starting to move in the right direction. I thought it was such a shame that you came back so broken. You have so much more potential," he said kindly, his fatherly affection twinkling in his eyes.

He shrugged away the gesture. "Thanks, but I really don't want to talk about it, okay?" he replied, moving to go back into his own room.

Wintergreen sighed. "Well, I suppose I can't expect you to fully recover in one day. But it's good to hear you talk," he added.

With a sad glance backwards, he slowly shut the door. Now he was even more confused. He sank down to his kness, running his hands through his hair. Everything was happening so fast that it was hard to keep his mind clear. He grasps two wisps of smoky black hair with his hands as he rolled around. "This is insane. What am I doing here?" He sighed. "I'm not sure what I want anymore!"


	8. Chapter 7

I've never appreciated how hard it is to write Slade...

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 7

The screens lit up once more as he watched his own apprentice trudge through the streets on his way back from the mission. The mission was supposed to help him gain some form of confidence back, as well as push him all the way over to his side, but it hadn't worked that way. Instead, one of the boy's old friends had decided to show up at the most inopputune time possible, and now the boy was obviously confused.

Slade clenched his gloved fingers into a fist, but resisted the urge to pound the table in anger. It wasn't the boy's fault, he knew. After all, the poor guy had been through a lot lately, and not all of it was beyond his control. He didn't know all the facts of the story, only that the red-head Titan was gone, and that the boy blamed himself. And, though he found it hard to believe, he felt sorry for his old apprentice.

This wasn't the boy that he had worked so hard to bring into servitude. This was somebody else, a broken spirit that had come to him not by his own free will, but under the direction of a broken heart. It was actually worse than not having his old apprentice at all, for this one was so easily broken. Believe it or not, Slade missed the old fire that used to coarse through the boy's veins at the mention of his name, and he missed the old Robin who would have just as easily throttled him as looked at him. No, this was somebody completely different than the boy he had originally wanted to be his apprentice.

And yet he had taken the boy in, perhaps because it had, in some way, hurt him to see such a strong warrior broken in such a way. Or maybe that was just because he wanted to be the one to break that strong will, just to have that experience, to pit his wits against that stubborn boy. Whatever the reason had been, he was now once more the commanding master, and he did as was expected of him, to order the boy around, to keep him from feeling anything. Partially because of the fact that he enjoyed having this power back, and partially because he didn't WANT Robin to have to feel.

In some way, he felt like he was now the boy's protector. As strange as that seemed, it was the truth. A broken Robin had come to him for solice, and what else could he have done? After all, both parties benefited in this agreement, for once, and it wasn't like he didn't absolutely love every second of power, but it seemed...empty.

His apprentice walked in, a blank stare on his face. He'd gotten somewhat used to that blank look, but this time, he thought he saw a shimmer of emotion there. He wasn't sure whether to be happy or disappointed about that one. After all, this meant that the boy was slowly getting accustomed to the sadness, but that might mean that the boy was also having second thoughts, the latter of which would prove disastrous.

But, thankfully, he didn't have to say anything, and he merely silently relieved Robin of the xinothium-fueled weapons, not caring that the boy went straight up to his room. Under normal circumstances, he would have called him back and told him that the day was still young; they should continue training, but he knew where his limits were. The boy was already on the brink of insanity, and despite whatever confidence he may have had, he sure didn't want to be on the receiving end of one of the boy's tirades.

He sighed unhappily, sitting back down to mull things over. He had hoped that with the defeat of Doctor Light and Chang, the boy would be somewhat happier, having satisfied his revenge, but now the villains were in jail, and nothing worse. Now the jails were housing his apprentice's most bitter enemies, and no doubt that jail would be in for some rough, expensive therapy for two certain innmates.

He couldn't help but smile, though, as he watched the hatred burning in the boy's every facial feature. His eyes had practically burned holes through that cloth mask of his as he looked down on Light. It was almost amazing to him that Robin could have felt such things for anyone but himself, as he normally filled the role of bitter enemy, but this emotional enemy was something else altogether altogether.

Sending the boy to retrieve xinothium was still a smart move, though, he reflected as he twirled the weapon absent-midedly with his left hand. Not only did it give him some time to vent his anger, but it also provided Slade with a very deadly weapon. As soon as the boy felt up to it, the two of them would overtake the city and drive out what remained of those annoying teen heros.

But still Robin refused to let him even suggest tearing down the Tower. Despite the look of pain that crossed the boy's face every time he passed that symbol of his old life, he refused to let a single scratch penetrate the surface. "She's in there, and nobody will touch that place as long as I know that," the boy had shouted one day when he had quietly suggested that.

It was only natural, he supposed, but he was still a bit confused at the boy's dogged detemination to let something so sadenning stand as a testimony to his anguish. But he personally knew that when Robin set his mind to something, there was no deterring him from his goal. At least that part of the old Robin had remained, and he was glad for that constant reminder that he was not, in reality, completely starting over at the beginning.

Familiar footsteps echoed through the hallways, and he didn't even turn this time. He knew who it was automatically, and no doubt that meant that the boy had experienced some sort of change, otherwise the normally quiet butler wouldn't be approaching him at this time when he would normally be planning or reflecting, for his old friend knew better. "How is he?" he asked quietly.

"He is doing better. I was actually able to have a short conversation with him this time, sir. I am worried for his sanity, though. He has been trying to hold down those emotions of his, and it's all going to have to come out sooner or later," the butler said, then added, "I just hope it comes out at the right time."

He rested his chin in his hand as a gesture of thought. "As do I, my old friend. What did you two talk about, anyway?" he asked.

A slight smile played on the old man's face. "I told him that I was concerned for him, and he told me that he didn't wish to talk about it," he said simply.

He sighed. Yes, that seemed appropriate. The boy wasn't ready to talk about it yet; that was perfectly understandable. "At least we're going somewhere," he sighed.

Hesitantly, the butler put a hand on his shoulder in a gesture of friendship that he had not felt for some time. "Don't worry, my friend. He will recover, eventually," Wintergreen assured him.

He sighed even more deeply as the video footage stopped on a most appropriate image: one of the look of confusion that his apprentice had worn when he had seen the empath walk into the room at that time. "Eventually," he repeated, though this time, the word took on a completely new meaning.

TTTTTT

"I just don't understand how he could have turned against me so easily!" Raven sobbed.

Jinx sighed. She was still getting used to being a close friend, but even she knew that normally people didn't cry for this long. Then again, Raven had held Robin in a special place in her heart, and so perhaps the pain was understandable, in some way. "Robin's been through more than you think. He watched Starfire die in his arms, and then only moments later witnessed your own fall. That was only a few hours after Cyborg and Red X's disappearance. Just imagine putting all that weight on yourself," she said, trying to give some sort of explanation.

Raven wiped her tears. "I'm sorry. It must seem like I'm such a cry-baby. I don't normally cry this much, it's just that right after Beast Boy, I tried to go to the only other boy that I've ever had feelings for and..."

Jinx nodded. "I get it. I guess I'd feel the same way if Kid Flash ever turned against me, although I doubt that would ever happen," she sighed contentedly.

"You two have a great relationship, don't you?" Raven asked, trying to change the subject.

"Well, we'd have to for him to get me to completely change my lifestyle, wouldn't we?" she laughed in response.

"I guess so," Raven chuckled, glad to have a reprieve from her earlier sad emotions.

"When do you think we'll be able to put Cyborg back together?" Jinx asked, then immediately winced at the look Raven gave her. She shouldn't have brought the topic back up, she knew, but she couldn't help but wonder, and this seemed a good oppurtunity to ask.

"I don't know. I just can't wait until we find something more than a gear or two," Raven smiled weakly, but that smile quickly faded and gave way to a frown. "I just can't believe that so much happened after I left."

"Lives can change in an instant. We just need to learn to keep up," Jinx sighed.

"You're getting there," Raven laughed.

Suddenly, in a flash of light, Kid Flash appeard in front of them, sweaty, and dragging a thoroughly annoyed Red X behind him. "You'll never guess what we just found!" he practically shouted.

"X's brain?" Raven quipped with a slight giggle. "Or maybe his humanity, that will come more in handy!"

"Har, har, very funny. We're all dying of laughter. Do you want to know or not?" Red X snapped.

Jinx sighed. "You're no fun. We're just trying to get some laughs. Now go ahead and tell us, spoil-sport!" she sighed.

Before Red X could do anything, a grinning Kid Flash stepped in front of him. "No, you two have to guess first. I promise you'll be happy about it!" he laughed.

"Can you just get on with it? It's stuffy in here!" said a familiar voice. Jinx started. Where did she...?

"It can't be..." Raven gasped.

"No way!" Jinx shouted in happy recognition.

Red X sighed. "Now who's a spoil-sport?" he said angrily, seemingly to his cloak. He pulled the dark material back, revealing Cyborg...Or Cyborg's head, that is.

"CYBORG!" Raven shouted happily, tears of joy spilling everywhere.

For a moment, Cyborg grinned back, then raised an eyebrow. "I'm confused. By my calculations, I've been out for over a month, so where's the rest of the welcoming committee?"

"Pardon?" Jinx asked, not quite understanding the sad meaning of that question until after the words had escaped her lips, after which she immediately clasped her hands to her mouth.

The head...Cyborg...sighed. "Where is everybody? Are they alright? How come Beast Boy and Starfire and Robin aren't around?"

Raven looked away, a new kind of tears stinging her eyes now. "Please..."

Cyborg's eyes darted from face to face. "What? Did I say something?"

Jinx quickly stepped forward. "Let's...not tarnish such a happy moment with sad news. For now, we should just be happy."

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Cyborg thundered.

Kid Flash took a deep breath. "Well..." he started.

Raven cut him off. "I think I should tell him. Cyborg, if you had your legs attached, I'd tell you to sit down, but..."

"I can't," Cyborg said, the bitter revelation stinging his pride.

Raven swallowed and nodded. "I'm sorry that I have to tell you this so soon after you've finally gotten back, but..."


	9. Chapter 8

Red X is being weird. But his being weird will prove to be a key turning point in some HAPPINESS, so no being angry about stupid Red X!

Disclaimer; Same as always.

Chapter 8

Perhaps one of the reasons he trained so much was because it was relaxing, it deprived him of the priveledge of free thought, meaning that he didn't have to think about what was going on in his world now. He was starting to understand why Robin had chosen the road that he did.In fact, he was started to understand a lot of what Robin did. After all, he had taken Robin's place as leader. And the training helped to relieve the stress. Even if it didn't help his position any.

His breathing was ragged as he repetitively hit the punching bag. Left...right...right...left... His mind wasn't on the workout, though, it was occupied with other things.

He couldn't escape the fact that the blame lay on his shoulders, or at least some of it did. He wasn't the one who had pushed the kid over the edge, but he had sure driven him up to the top of the precipice. He knew that because of his taunts, the poor kid had been placed in a very uncomfortable situation with both girls thinking they were his. If he could have kept his mouth shut...

Left...right...left...right...right...The punching bag did not exist in his mind's eye. He was instead picturing Light. If that idiot of a villain hadn't managed to steal the xinothium from him in the first place, then maybe he wouldn't have been in this position. Life would have gone on, and two people wouldn't be lying in the hospital rooms while their best friend tore himself apart with grief.

Right...left...right...left...left...His arms were sore. He'd been at this for four hours straight now. His entire being ached, cried out for him to stop this torture, but he would not allow himself. How could he take a break when three people...three innocent victims...were gone? Sure, one was still alive, if you could call that lifestyle living, but the true Robin was dead, replaced by an unfeeling, helpless shell.

Left...right...left...right...right. His feet moved from side to side, keeping time with his steady blows as, in the back of his mind, he quietly berated himself for his part. But he refused to talk to anyone about what he was feeling. He knew that it was what had brought Robin down, but he couldn't help but try to ignore what he was thinking. He had an outlet for his emotions, after all, if a very destructive outlet.

Right...left...right... He had to stop to catch his breath. His knees buckled beneath him as he grasped his sides. His breathing was irregular as his body tried to take in as much oxygen as possible in huge gasps of breath. But he wouldn't stop and rest; he wouldn't give himself the satisfaction. He didn't deserve to have a break, he thought. Did the others get a break? No, they didn't. Shaking, he pushed himself back up to his feet, deciding to move on to the treadmill to at least ease his screaming arms.

Right...left...right...left. The thud of each footstep urged him forwards. He knew that he could only push himself so far, but he kept the treadmill at it's higher rate, and his aching legs cried out for him to stop, but he did not.

Step by step. Right foot, left foot. He put all of his concentration into each step, not only because he was so tired, but also because it was his way of distracting himself. And thus far, he was actually doing a pretty good job with it. Left foot, right foot. Breathe in, breathe out.

His ears were ringing, and he was soaked in sweat. His vision was blurred, and he could slowly feel himself slipping away, and yet he pressed on. Right foot, left foot. Each step took so much energy that he had to force himself to take the next one. Step by step. Inch by inch.

He had to give in; he turned the speed down, and this relieved his sore muscles, if only for the moment. He leaned heavily on the machinery, holding his feet above the moving equipment as he tried to catch his breath. But the pressure he was putting on his lungs was slowly winning him over, and he turned the machine off. He jogged over to the bench, where a water bottle sat, almost completely empty.

He sighed. This would mean that he would have to leave the gym and fill it up. For a moment, he considered just leaving it empty, and continuing his workout, but his thirst overcame his want for privacy and desire for an absence of physical contact with the outside world.

"Shoot. I guess I've got to refill this," he sighed as he rolled up the bottom part of his mask, revealing lips parched with thirst. He drained what little liquid was in the bottle, then took off at a moderate jog to go and do this chore.

He overheard their whispers in the living room. He wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but he heard anyway. He was just too dang quiet, he guessed. At first he had tried to block out what they were saying as he quieted his breathing, but when his name came up, he couldn't help but listen.

"I can't help but worry about Red X," Raven was saying to Cyborg.

"Yeah, he seems a little...distant. Even more so than usual," Cyborg replied.

"He's been locking himself in the gym for hours on end, and when he comes out, he goes straight to bed. The only time he's not training is when he goes to find more of Cyborg's parts," Jinx supplied, nodding her agreement.

"It's Robin all over again," Raven sighed. "I heard him right after Starfire left him. I've never heard him so...broken before." She sighed, and her eyes drifted towards the hallway that led to the hospital room. "Now I know why."

"If I had a hand, I'd put it on your shoulder, Rae. I'm sorry all this had to happen, but it did. Right now we should just focus on one problem at a time," Cyborg offered.

"How are we supposed to do that? All these problems keep popping up all at once!" Jinx cried out, exasperated.

"And it's not like the X situation is helping, either. He's just making things worse," Kid Flash added angrily.

Cyborg's eyes widened. "Whoa man, what's got your goat?" he asked. "I've never seen you this mad before. Hey, I've never seen you mad at all!"

Kid Flash sighed. "It's Red X. He's been moody lately, and it's enough to get on my last nerve. Normally I can keep my head and my smile, but that attitude of his just...grr," he finished, his eyes narrowed.

"Give him a break, guys. We can't possibly imagine the guilt that he's going through," Raven sighed.

As he turned the faucet on, he purposefully slammed the ice box shut to get their attention. Immediately, everything went quiet as they stared up at him. He knew they couldn't see his eyes, but right now they were blazing with anger. If looks could kill...

"Oh, hey Red X. We didn't see..." Jinx trailed off, trying to find the right words.

He glowered down at them, forcefully closing the cap of the bottle as he turned the water off and stalked out of the room. He was about to close the door behind him, but a hand of black energy held it open, and Raven phased up through the floor in front of him. "X, please don't be mad at whatever you may have overheard. We're all tired, and we were just blowing off steam. Please..."

"Just leave me alone," he snapped.

Tears appeared in her eyes, and she bit her lip, looking away for a moment before looking him straight in the face once more, tears and all. "I wish you could hear yourself right now. You sound so much like him..." Her voice was barely a whisper, but it ferocity pierced him like a sword.

He sighed, unable to keep eye contact with her. "Stop telling me that. I just want to be alone," he pleaded.

"That's just it, Red X. You're not alone. We're here to help. If you think you're going through a lot, then why don't you try looking at it from my point of view? I'm the one that pushed him off a tower, aren't I? And yet here I am, helping to try and put this team back together. Now, I know we won't ever be a true team again, but the least we can do is try, alright?" she chided gently.

"I don't need your advice," he growled. Couldn't they just leave him alone until he had enacted his revenge on himself? He didn't care that the empath played a part; she was normally devoid of emotion anyway, it wasn't like she could understand how hard it was for him.

As he stalked away, he heard her faint whisper, "You may not think so, but it's all I have left to give."

He slammed the door behind him, those words still ringing in his ears. He quickly quenched his thirst, then immediately returned to his work. That is, beating Doctor Light's face in in his mind's eye.

Left...right...left...right. The pounding beat of blows put his mind at ease for a moment, but only a moment. Right...right...left sidestep... In the back of his mind, those tear-filled violet eyes rose up, filling his heart with remorse. He shouldn't have just left her standing there without trying to offer her some sort of explanation. But how could she understand?

Right...left...right...left. He'd given his body a rest, so why was he feeling so weak? He growled in annoyance at his own incompetence, and he continued pounding the punching bag. As long as he kept going, his mind wouldn't have the chance to bother him so much.

Left...left...left...right...right...right. His feet danced beneath him as his breathing quickened its pace to try to keep up with his mind. He was going to keep going. He had to. This was his only outlet.

Left...left..right...left...right. They thought he was being selfish. They thought he was being rude. He wasn't. He was actually trying to keep himself locked away so that he wouldn't end up hurting them. He knew he was on the brink of insanity, as they kept so kindly reminding him. It was safer this way.

Right...right...

He couldn't find the strength to continue on. Despite his inward cries to keep going, to keep pushing himself, his body wasn't listening to him. His knees buckled, and he fell to the ground with a slight groan. His word was spinning.

"Get up. Get up," he told himself, trying to force his unwilling arms to lift his body up, but they weren't responding. Finally, he could hold out no longer, and he let himself fall to the ground. The world was spinning, and the ringing was still in his ears, and now his mind couldn't be kept from coming out.

"You may not think so, but it's all I have left to give," said Raven's voice in his mind. He winced a bit as he realized the hidden truth in that statement. The girl felt that she could never love, never feel again, and who could blame her? And yet here he was, worried about his own feelings.

"Just leave me alone!" said Robin's voice, and he felt a twinge of guilt as he realized that he really had sounded exactly like the kid. And yet he was the one who had pushed the kid too far. His warnings had come too late, and now he was paying the consequences.

He groaned. Why was this happening? Everything was happening so quickly that he could hardly think straight. Everything had been thrust on him at once...and now he was starting to understand why the kid had gone off the edge. He tried once more to rise, but his arms weren't cooperating.

The door burst open, and a feminine scream erupted in his ears. He tried to rise, tried to tell them that he'd be fine, that he just needed to get some rest and he'd be right back up on his feet, but he couldn't. He couldn't even tell who had screamed, since he had never heard Jinx or Raven scream before...

"Kid Flash! Jinx! Get in here!" Okay, so it was definitely Raven. Wonderful. Now she could rub it in his face that he had pushed himself so far. He tried to get up once more, and this time succeeded in emitting a feeble moan. Which was worse, in his opinion. Now he looked weak.

As could be expected, it took all of half a second for more voices to join Raven's. After all Kid Flash was faster than any other, so why shouldn't he get there quickly? But this only made it all the worse for X, and he wanted nothing more than to growl at them and tell them to go away.

"What happened?" Jinx asked, and he was not only surprised, but also filled with guilt, at the concern that filled the girl's voice. Were they really that worried about him?

"I think he pushed himself too far. He's completely drenched in sweat. What are we going to do?" Raven asked, concern evident in her voice as well. It continued to surprise him how emotional the girl had become ever since her miraculous return. Sooner or later, after he had righted all his wrongs and tried his best to find a cure for the others, he would have to ask her about it.

"I don't think he wants us to take him to the hospital," Kid Flash remarked as Red X tried to push himself up again.

Got that right, he thought sarcastically, though he couldn't say that at the moment, for lack of both air and strength. His breathing was slowing down, though, and he could finally make out shapes. There was a big pink blob, a yellow and red blob, and a dark blue blob, and all three were hovering above him.

"Do you think we should anyway?" Jinx asked.

His eyes widened, and he tried to shake his head. He was feeling better already; he could now distinguish faces. He opened his mouth, but all that came out was a cracking sound as his voice failed him.

"Of course we should! I'm not going to let him go to pieces like Robin did!" Raven said, and the bitterness in her voice was obvious.

He felt several hands beneath his back and shoulders, and his desperately told his voice to come back to him. His legs seemed to respond, and he was able to, with their unwitting assistance, stand up and stare around at them. "Leave...me...alone!" he gasped, his voice raspy, but finally there. Darn it, he really was starting to sound like Robin.

"Red X, you're not in a position to demand anything. We're taking you to the medical ward, now," Raven said, her voice firm and unwavering.

"I...don't...need..." He couldn't finish the sentence. Weeks and weeks of endless physical torture that he had inflicted upon himself finally got the best of him, and his eyesight blurred once more, this time not to return. His knees buckled and he fell to the ground as his world turned to darkness.

The last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was Raven's voice saying, "I had hoped that you wouldn't be like him, you know. I had hoped that you wouldn't torture yourself like he's doing. I guess I was wrong. It's not the first time."


	10. Chapter 9

Robin lost it...again. This time with the stupid press. Raven's going insane, and Red X thinks he's going insane. I use the word 'thinks' because hearing voices isn't always a bad thing...shutting up now.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 9

He stalked out of the building, very content with his latest work. The first step in taking over a city; hitting their communications. The electricity lines had been damaged so severely that by the time they could be brought back, the job would have been finished. Now he was leaving behind a destroyed building, a place that had once been bustling with life now teeming with darkness. The press had been destroyed as well.

Oh, he couldn't say that he didn't enjoy every second of it, because then he would be lying. The memory was still fresh in his mind. He had dragged the editor up by the collar, growling menacingly as he sneered, "So you couldn't leave me alone, huh? Just had to publish my life's story for the whole world to see? Just had to make sure everybody knew that I was having trouble with my love life?"

"I didn't..." the man had stuttered, trying to catch his breath under the strain.

He had lifted the man into the air angrily, violently throwing him aside. "Didn't think about the repurcussions, did you? Didn't realize that villains read the newspaper? Didn't think that maybe someone could use it against me?"

"Look, we're sorry that Doctor Light found a weakness, but that's no reason for you to-" The young female reporter's sentence was cut off when he whirled around, his eyes blazing.

"I'm not even going to comment on that," he growled.

And then the rest of it was a blur of weapons, explosions of xinothium, and screams. He couldn't even recall it anymore, the whole thing was nothing to his mind. He'd become lost to all feeling, and the fight had comenced. Somehow, he managed to escape the mayhem with only a few scrapes, though he was not sorry to report that the rest did not. He'd crossed over, he knew, from simply an apprentice to a true villain.

Way to go, Boy Wonder.

TTTTT

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," Raven chanted as she hung in the air. It was nice to meditate and visit Nevermore without being stuck there, she reflected as the familiar shapes of her emotions came into view.

"Nice of you to come back and visit!" Happiness beamed, though Raven noted that the smile was almost forced, and, in fact, everybody looked like they were under a lot of strain.

"What's going on here?" she asked, concerned. After all, these were her emotions.

Intelligence stepped forward, a bit shyly for once, and answered, "Well, we've all been under a lot of stress since that little battle, and then with everything that's been going on in the outside world...well...some of us were pretty crushed."

"Some of us especially more than others," Rude said bluntly, but quickly quieted back down, instead merely nodding in the direction of the forest.

"Hello?" she called uneasily into the darkness.

"Come on, Raven's here. We have to get up," said a voice. The voice sounded...broken, sad, tired.

"Who's there?" Raven called out.

Love and Little...uh...Love II...both stepped forward. Both emotions' eyes were bright red from crying, and Love II had shrunk once more, though this time not because of xinothium, but simply because there was no one left to love for her. Even Love seemed a bit shorter.

"Um...what happened?" she spluttered.

Love bit her lip, still trying to hide her tears. "Can't you figure it out? Robin and Beast Boy are pretty much gone! There's nothing left for us!"

Raven bit her lip, trying to think of words to say. That was the problem with Love, it..she...they wereso compicated. "There's still the love of friends, and Cy's back," she offered feebly.

Love II looked away, shrinking even before Raven's eyes. "We're not the only ones shrinking. Happiness was trying to hide it from you, but..."

Raven swung around, seeing the pink emotion adjust her cloak. For a moment, her eyes saw behind the sea of color, and noted that the pink boots were about two feet taller than normal. "Um, why are your boots...?" she asked.

Happiness paled, then, realizing that she couldn't hide, threw her cloak back to show that, in reality, she was only about as tall as...well...now that she was short again...Little Love. She tried to manage a weak smile, but couldn't. "How could I be happy if you were worried about me?" she explained.

Intelligence put a hand on Raven's shoulder. "We have all been shrinking. All this stress is desensitizing you. Even Anger is shrinking, because you're having trouble feeling anything at all."

Raven peered at the yellow-clad emotion. "You're not shrinking," she pointed out.

Intelligence smiled sadly. "Because I have not been effected. I'm a rather...different emotion, for I am measured by what you learn over the years, not what happens during specific circumstances. I may know everything, but the truth is, I cannot feel the way the others do."

Her eyes widened. "You mean now that I've finally got my mind back together, everything's going to fall apart again?"

Intelligence smiled sadly. "It's called going insane, dear Raven, and I fear that if you do not recover your friends soon, then insanity will prevail. Already Love and Little Love are shrinking at an alarming rate. If you don't find a shred of hope or something within the next few days, they'll be gone."

Timid stepped forward, with her close friend Sadness. "And we're shrinking too," the grey-clad emotion said.

Sadness nodded. "I finally came out into the open, and then you exhausted me," she squeaked, then, as an emotion of her state would be expected to do, broke down into tears. "Everything's falling apart!"

As Raven was about to respond, something entered her mind, like thousands of souls all departing the earth into her own mind. She gripped her head in pain, and left Nevermore instantly, though on the outside she was still meditating.

The emotions of many different beings all coursed through her being, and she tried to make sense of it. This would only happen if...

Her eyes popped open, and she nearly fell out of the sky. "No," she whispered sadly. "He didn't...he couldn't..." But she didn't cry, for even Sadness had little power over her any more.

TTTTTTT

He woke up in the hospital wing. Of course, he wasn't surprised to find himself there, it was just that he was thoroughly annoyed now. And strapped down. Wonderful.

He'd warned those dipsticks not to touch him, not to move him. But they had. And now he was stuck in this room. At least they had the sense to put up a curtain between himself and the other two beds in that room. He'd rather not see those two anyway...

He moaned, trying to escape these bonds, but it wasn't working. Sleep was overtaking him again, for his body had been deprived of it for too long. Yet he refused to give in to it, that would only prove disastrous.

"Red X?" asked a voice in the darkness of his mind. Or was it in the real world?

"It can't be..." he gasped, and he knew he wasn't making sense.

That voice...it sounded so broken, so tired, so...wonderfully familiar. As if from out of a dream. But if he was hearing this voice, he must be going insane, for as he struggled once more and opened his eyes, there was no one there.

And then another voice entered his mind, though this time it wasn't because he was going insane, but because it really was in his mind. Raven. The voice asked quietly and calmly, "Are you awake?"

"If I wasn't, I am now," he replied crossly.

"Just answer the question. I don't have time for your games."

"Yeah. I'm awake. You caught me after I woke up in the hospital wing. I thought I told you-"

"Listen, there isn't much time," Raven's thoughts said, and there was urgency in her voice.

"What happened?" he asked, the same urgency rising in his own.

"I'm not absolutely positive-"

"It's impossible to be absolutely positive. There's always a sliver of a chance. Go on," he interrupted crossly.

"Robin's gone over the deep end. To the point of no return."

"What are you talking about? I thought he already-"

"They're dead."

His eyes widened. "Who's dead?" he asked, hoping against hope...

"The reporters, the editors, everybody. X, he attacked the press. Savagely," she answered sadly.

Well, at least it wasn't like the other Titans were gone, but still, this was bad. "He actually killed them?" he gasped, surprised, for they were talking about the pig-headed hero who stuck to his morals with a feverish zeal.

"It's only a matter of time before he's completely desensitized to death. There's no stopping him anymore. Are you in a condition to help?"

"No," he thought, then realized that she was hearing that thought. "Of course I am, " he lied.

There was silence for a while, then she said, "No, you need to stay there and make sure you stop hearing voices first. I'll come back when I can."

With that, the connection was terminated, leaving Red X alone once more. And then the voice came back again, and he thought for a moment that he was dead. "What are you doing here, of all places?" the voice said.

"You...you can't be real. Leave me alone," he panted, confused now more than ever.

"What are you talking about? X, wake up! You've got to come back to the land of the living!" That voice, it was so familiar, but it couldn't possibly be...No, he was going insane, wasn't he? To be hearing this voice?

"I am awake, thanks to you," he growled, hoping that this figment would go away.

"That's good. Why are you strapped down? Is it because of what happened with Robin? Or are you having problems of your own? Come on, X, we need to help the others! Please talk to me!" the voice begged, and the strain in that voice was so familiar, so painful, that Red X felt something that he thought he could never feel again, for everything that had happened. He felt pity. Both for himself and for the voice, if it truly was real.

Fighting fatigue, he forced his eyes open one last time, and as his eyesight returned to him, he gasped in surprise. No. Way. Now he knew he was going insane.


	11. Chapter 10

Disclaimer; I own nothing.

It's good to be back.

Chapter 10

It was as if in a dream that she rushed to confront her former friend. She hadn't even thought about alerting anybody but Red X, she had been so alarmed. And now she was starting to regret that decision. But she couldn't do anything about it; he communicator was back at the Tower, still sitting on the roof where she had been thinking.

She ducked into the alleyway, trying to follow the light sound of footsteps in the dark night. As if on cue, thunder boomed through the night. Stupid spring showers, messing with her hearing, she thought as the rain began to fall around her, drowning out the stealthy footsteps of her prey.

She was drenched, cold, and worried by the time she figured out which way he had gone. Biting her lip, she considered going back. He seemed so distant right now, and she doubted that there was anything she could do at this point to bring him back, but she had to at least try, didn't she?

Reaching out with her powers, she grabbed him around the middle with her soul self and pulled him around to face her. As her energy returned to her body, she allowed the wind to blow her hood down, revealing her face to him.

Yet there was no emotion in his expression, save that same hateful one. His eyes narrowed, and a small, cruel smile spread over his lips as he toyed with a thought. And from the look he was giving her, it wasn't going to be good.

Suddenly, he attacked her, giving her no time to move out of the way. A metal boot connected with her uncovered face, and as she fell down to the ground in surprise, she tasted blood as it filled her mouth. She rose shakily, fearing that there was nothing she could say or do to save him anymore. "Robin, please. I just need to talk to you."

"About what?" he growled. "In case you haven't noticed, Raven, I'm not in a talking mood," he added, emphasizing his point with a swift blow to her stomach.

"Then listen," she replied, pinning him to the wall with her powers. As she watched him struggle to break free, she gasped in air to recover from his attack, then asked quietly, "Robin, I know you're in there somewhere. Listen to me. Why did you lose it back there?"

His mouth dropped open for a moment, but he closed it immediately afterwards, fixing her with an icy stare as he pried himself free, rushing at her with a fierce anger in his eyes behind the mask. "How do you know about that?" he demanded.

As she put up a shield to protect herself from his blows, she replied sadly, "I felt it Robin, and I feel your rage now. You need to overcome it. Please, Robin, try to understand." Her voice was devoid of any emotion. It was just a calm whisper, and yet she commanded his attention somehow. "Listen carefully, Robin," she said, noting that he had, for the moment, stopped fighting her, "it was not your fault, do you hear me? Sometimes things happen that we can't control, but it's not your fault."

But she'd made a mistake in bringing that touchy topic back up. The movement was so fast that it didn't even register to her when the metal boot collided with the side of her skull. But the throbbing pain informed her of what had happened, and she fell to the ground. Anger flared up within her, but it quickly died back down as she recognized the hurt look in Robin's face. So he was starting to feel something. That was why he had attacked her, out of confusion. She decided to try again. "We need you Robin. I need you," she said, and her voice choked with sudden emotion, as Sadness began to take hold once more. "More than ever."

This did seem to stop him for a moment, but then his face hardened into a mask of anger. Well, she was getting to him. Somewhat. "Please..." she prodded.

She'd pushed too hard, it seemed. With an angry cry, he rushed forward. Years of training together had a disadvantage, it seemed, as he was able to anticipate the defenses she would summon, and seemed to come up with a counterattack to each one in the entire time period of a few seconds. She suffered blow after blow as first his boots, then a few weapons came into play.

She felt the familiar sting of a zinothium weapon and immediately closed her mind to it. At least this time it wouldn't affect her in that way. Gasping, she whispered hoarsely, "Where did you...?"

He smirked, bending down to look her in the eyes, for she was now on her knees. "Like it? Recognize it? You should. It's the same one that Doctor Light used. Let me tell you, the thing is powerful, as you're about to find out."

Her eyes widened in surprise at the malice in his voice, all the morals that he had thrown away. "You wouldn't," she gasped, trying to recover feeling in her arms so that she could fight back.

His smirk only widened at this and he purposefully spat into the ground beside him, a sure sign that he was more than serious. "Watch me," he growled.

The pain rushed through her entire being as she collapsed to the ground, but she didn't have the liberty of rest as he kept firing repeatedly. At this point, she was fully prepared for the final blow, but he seemed content to leave her at the edge of her consciousness.

"Unpleasant, no?" he scoffed.

"Do you really want to be this much like Slade? I thought you just didn't want to feel anymore, not to become someone who feels only hatred and anger," she shot back.

His eyes widened at this and he was silent for a moment before he leveled his weapon for the final blow, the one that would finally free her from insanity. But his fingers hesitated, and a glimmer of guilt shone in his face. She took that oppurtunity to phase through the ground, leaving him alone to sort through his thoughts.

When she appeared back in one of the alleys, she had no strength left. She started coughing violently, and all she saw was red. Was this how Robin had felt? She shuddered. Suddenly she understood how painful it must have been for him to have felt so weak. With these thoughts in mind and no one to relieve her of them, she collapsed onto the ground into the pools of her own blood and xinothium and tears, as well as the rain. Her consciousness faded away from her, and her last thoughts were that Kid Flash and Jinx wouldn't know where to look for her, since she had left her communicator. Or maybe when they did find her, there would be nothing left to salvage. And then she passed out.

TTTTTTTT

He looked down on the figure strapped down in the hospital ward. And he couldn't fathom why he thought that he wasn't real. Of course he was real! He was standing in front of the guy, wasn't he?

"Red X, come on! Here, let me help you out of there," he offered, preparing to demonstrate his own strength...

"NO!"

He stopped dead in his tracks, confused. Didn't Red X want help? "Why not?" he demanded.

"You. Are. Not. Real!" X said through clenched teeth.

He nearly laughed. "Of course I am! Now, here, let me help you, alright?" With that, he transformed easily into a mouse, undoing each individual screw until the bands fell off. "Now, what were you saying about me not being real?"

The masked teen only stared back at him, completely surprised. "You're real?"

Sighing in frustration, he strolled right up and slapped him across the head. "That help anything?" he asked.

X rubbed the back of his head. "But...you were dead...I saw you!"

He rolled his eyes. "Now I know why you were strapped down. Dude, I'm real, okay? Get it through your head!"

Suddenly, Red X jumped up and whipped out his communicator. "Jinx, Kid Flash, you're never going to guess who I'm talking to right now!" he said excitedly.

"Cyborg?" Jinx teased.

"What's so important about talking to me! I thought nobody wanted to talk to me anyway!" he demanded finally.

The communicator emitted much static as Jinx gasped in surprise. "Is that who I think it is?"

Annoyed, he reached out and grabbed the communicator from out of Red X's hands. "The one and only. Who did you think would be with Raven when she came back? Where is she anyway?"

Then Red X became suddenly serious. "She went after Robin!" he blurted out.

His eyes narrowed. "How's that?" he demanded. He couldn't believe...after all that they'd been through...

Kid Flash came on. "Beast Boy! Great to see you man! What's Red X going on about Raven leaving? Last I saw she was peacefully meditating on the roof. Tie him back down again, BB, because he's hallucinating."

Red X's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "I was NOT! Listen to me! Robin's really lost it this time and we've got to go after Raven before he-"

Beast Boy interrupted. "Whoa whoa whoa. Raven's been around for how long now? And Cy's back? And Robin's done what? And since when have we had Jinx and Kid Flash on our team? And what's with Red X being tied down? Besides the fact that he's been babbling about me not being real, he seems pretty okay to me!"

Kid Flash chuckled. "Boy, did we ever need you. I miss laughing. Did I just say that? Yes I did. I miss laughing. It's been so dark and depressing around here lately. Think you could cheer us up a bit?"

But he wasn't about to be talked out of this one. "Only after you answer my questions."

"Alright kid. Bottom line is: you've been dead for about a week now," Red X said simply.

His eyes widened. "I've been...and I've missed...you mean the..."

Jinx snorted. "Yep. Same old Beast Boy. He's no figment of your imagination, X, although I don't blame you for this one."

"Ahem. Continuing on, Raven's been around for as long as you've been dead, and she's starting to go insane too. I think it'll do her good to see you again. Cyborg is back, but we've only got his chest and head put back together, and we can't seem to find the connectors for the pieces of his arms and legs that we've found so far. Robin went and killed a bunch of reporters, and I asked these two to help me look for Cyborg's parts. Any more questions?" Red X said bluntly.

"You always just get straight to the point, don't you?" Beast Boy sighed, trying to take it all in.

"Did I miss anything?" X asked the others, who silently shook their heads.

"That means we'd better go after Raven. If Robin's really lost it, there's no telling what he'll do to her!" he gasped.

"Check the roof first. Maybe she hasn't left yet," Red X offered.

With that, he had changed into a green cheetah and was halfway up the stairs before the others even knew what had happened. As rain poured around him, he searched desperately for any sign of her. Anything.

"Looks like she really did leave," Red X said, appearing behind him.

His mouth formed a small 'o' shape as he leaned down and picked up the small yellow device. "And she's in big trouble, too. Look at this."

Red X was taken aback and could find nothing to say.

"We've got to go after her!" he announced, transforming into a falcon and flying off, the thunder at his tail. But nothing would deter him from his goal of finding her.


	12. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 11

His footsteps pounded in his own ears as he ran through the dark cloud that was the night. His breathing was ragged, and he couldn't bring himself to look about him for fear that he would find her, limp, on the ground and anger would overtake him again. He didn't know what had happened. It just did.

He couldn't get the image out of his head; those deep eyes so broken, so sad because of what he was doing, so devoid of any hope that may have remained. He put a hand over his heart, feeling the rapid thumping against his gloved hands. He wanted to grasp the confusion seizing a hold of him and throw it out of his body, but he couldn't do so. He sank to his knees, staring at his reflection in a pool of water as the lightning above him lit his face up to gaze upon.

There he was, pale and scared, staring back up at himself. He'd lost a lot of weight lately, and his skin was a deathly hue. His lips were bright red from bleeding, and a small scar had formed across his mouth where Raven had managed a hit. He had to admit it; he didn't look so good.

His black hair fell over his face and eyes, and he closed those blue pools for a moment and leaned slightly back so that he could think. It was increasingly hard for him to think straight, he noticed, and his fears were now confirmed. He was definitely going insane.

He wanted to cry. In all truthfulness, he really did want to cry. He wanted to let out all of his emotions right there and get them out of his system. He wanted to just drop everything and, for a moment, forget all else and succomb to the pain eating at his heart. But no tears came. His eyes were dry, and even as he continued to feel pure shame, guilt, and sadness, they remained so.mesemlemill

Finally, one, solitary, hot tears welled up in his eye, but it would not fall. It just sat there, blurring his vision on that side as if to tell him that his emotions were tearing him apart, causing him more limitations than anything else. As the small symbol of his feeling of regret squeezed through the small space at the bottom of his mask, it blazed a hot trail down his cheeks, setting itself apart from the colder raindrops.

His head was pounding as he realized that he was slowly becoming unable to feel anything but anger and hatred, as she had pointed out earlier. His heart skipped a few beats, and he placed a hand to his stomach. He suddenly felt very sick. He was surprised that he had still not heard a voice in his ear. Good, at least the man knew when to leave him alone. Rule number one, don't interrupt somebody when they're going insane.

But some poor creature decided to break this sacred rule. It was a stray dog in the alley, and he narrowed his eyes. Ignorant animal or not, he wanted, needed, to be alone, and uninterrupted. "Get out of here! Scat!" he growled, and the dog seemed to retreat back into the darkness.

He sighed, glad that he hadn't lost it yet. Lately, the smallest things would set him over the edge. He'd kept all his feelings bottled up for so long that, eventually, they burst through. He shouldn't have been so worked up over such a trivial matter, he knew, but it was becoming increasingly hard for him to keep his cool. And this dog was starting to push his last nerves.

Suddenly, a low growl permeated the air threateningly. It seemed an almost...human growl, and he whirled at the sound, surprised at the ferocity of the sound. But the dog wasn't there anymore.

His eyes widened a bit. He didn't like this one bit. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him. After all, hadn't he just established that he was going insane? But, no, this couldn't be a trick, for even as he backed up, he heard the splash of a footstep in a puddle, followed by the screech of a hawk.

He looked up just in time to see a green hawk dive towards him. Green...? He jumped out of the way just as the hawk transformed into a human. He recognized that green skin, that uniform, those green eyes and hair, but could it really be...?

"Where is she?" the young hero demanded.

It took him a moment to recover from his stupidity as his eyes narrowed. So he was still fighting for Raven's affections? Well, let him fight. His fingers balled into fists, and he growled, "What are you doing here?"

Teeth bared, the shorter kid practically shouted, "I don't have time for this! Where is Raven?"

And now he had a reason to rejoice in what he had done. "I don't know. For real. We had a fight, and she...left." When he said the last word, he allowed a spiteful grin to creep over his face.

"Where did she go?" the changeling asked, his face coming dangerously close.

"How should I know? Why should I care?" he sneered. The whole time, though, he was fighting back this same nauseated feeling in the pit of his stomach.

With an angry shout, the short hero transformed into an angry gorilla, and he had all of a few seconds to dive out of the way before green, furry hands came down inches away from him. His eyes widened, and as he backed up, he ran into something behind him.

He had just turned around before a gloved hand had hit him below the chin, and he stumbled backwards, recovering from both surprise and from the attack. He knew that masked idiot.

"You didn't lose your temper, did you kid?" X asked, and for the first time, he heard something new: concern. Great concern.

"I didn't-"

He was cut off when a large green bull slammed into his back, and he fell onto all fours. The bull changed into a human. A glaring, angry human. "I'll only ask you one more time. Where is Raven?"

He grimaced when he saw that look. It was that look of obsession. That look that meant he would do anything to keep Raven from harm. His dry eyes stung with unshed tears that just wouldn't seem to come as he realized that he knew exactly what the boy was going through. He sighed. Okay, so he'd be nice this one time. "She phased through the ground. She couldn't of gotten far."

At first, the two boys were surprised that he was speaking something other than hatred, but then their faces gradually softened into smiles. Well, Beast Boy's at least. Red X just kinda smirked. He managed a weak grin in return, but soon that familiar headache kicked back in, and he narrowed his eyes. "What are you waiting for? Leave me alone already!" he shouted, exasperated.

Beast Boy sighed. "I thought you were going to change for a minute there." The changeling walked down the alley until he was silhouetted in the darkness. "I guess I was wrong," he added before disappearing completely.

At this point, he was glad for the distraction. Too many mood swings were headed his way. So he decided that the best thing would be to just keep walking. He kept wondering why Slade hadn't chewed him out yet.

Of course, he also didn't realize that the device in his ear had short circuited when he had been exposed to Raven's attacks. That would definitely explain the lack of shouts...

His headache was getting worse and worse as he stumbled through the streets. Was this really what it felt like to be losing his mind? He turned a corner, and there he saw her.

She was lying in the puddle, completely out of it. And her hair had fallen over her face, framing its angelic features. And she was completly out of it. And he couldn't tell if she was breathing. This couldn't be good!

TTTTTTTT

"Don't give up on life yet, hon, you still have a job to do," said a voice in her ear.

Her eyes fluttered open and a face came into view. Glasses. Brilliant. Of all the time for Intelligence to make an appearance. "What's going on?" she asked weakly.

Intelligence grinned. "And now you decide to join us in your own mind."

She blinked, still trying to take it in. "Did you just call me hon?" she asked.

Intelligence nodded. "I thought that it would be the best way to catch your attention."

She blinked harder. "And I'm still alive?"

Intelligence gave a harsh laugh. It was almost an insane laugh, it scared her so bad. But the emotion caught herself. "Sorry. It's just that lately, all the emotions have been diminishing, and Anger keeps bugging me about keeping her alive when...if...everything else disapears." She sighed, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought that back up. Let's just...try and fix this problem for now and see how it goes."

"You're not talking with that stupid British accent or using big words."

"I KNOW!" Intelligence shouted, then paled. "Sorry. Um...I know I've been kinda...touchy for a while...but the problem is that...well...Raven, you're going insane! And you're just going to give up on life before you have the chance to fix everything?"

"Where's Love?"

Intelligence started with surprise. "You changed the subject-"

"Where's Love?" she repeated.

"She's still in the forest," Intelligence replied sadly, refusing to meet her eyes. "I think her sister is...dying."

"DO WHAT NOW?" Raven shouted.

"Well...Beast Boy's gone and... One of the emotions needed to be the first to go, so..."

But Raven didn't listen to anything else, instead chosing to run out into the forest to find those two sisters before the worst happened.

"LOVE? LITTLE LOVE?" she shouted, pushing through the undergrowth. Boy, her head was throbbing.

"Raven, we're over here!" came a weak voice in the distance.

She rushed over to find a tiny, two-foot tall Little Love sitting beside her taller, normal-sized sister. "Raven!" Little Love shouted, but immediately her eyes widened in pain and she fell back over.

It broke her heart to see such an energetic emotion reduced to so little. "Little Love, hang on just a little while longer, okay? At least until I can return to the real world, okay?"

Love laughed. "Right. Because you're not in a coma right now. Look, Raven, unless you can pull yourself together within the next few hours, somehow break out of this coma, bring Beast Boy back to life, and get happy, I don't think anything's going to happen for a while."

"You look strong enough. Couldn't you give her some of your power?"

Love laughed quietly, pulling back her cloak to reveal a bony body. "You don't think I haven't tried absolutely everything to save my sister? As much as I hate to admit it, she's going to lose it, and not even you can do anything unless you can break half the laws of physics."

Her eyes brimming with tears, she bit her lip. "There is one last thing that I could do to delay it a few more hours, right?" she asked sadly.

"But putting your soul into your soul? It doesn't make sense! It can't work! And even if it did, it would kill you!" Love pleaded.

She shook her head. "It won't kill me, I know. But I will be winded for a longer time than I'd like, but at least your sister would live. After all, as much as I hate to admit it, you guys are really all that I have left."

"But she won't last anyway, will she? What with Beast Boy gone and everything?"

She sighed. "I'll tell you what. I'll give her enough of my soul to keep her alive until I can get out of this coma. If I can't find a way to bring happiness back into my life..." she trailed off. "It's just so...weird watching myself go insane. I mean literally watching it."

Love limped over, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Listen, I think it's great that you care about us so much, but you have to remember that we're just part of you."

"Exactly. Part of me is dying. I need to do something about it, don't I?"

Love sighed. "If you really think you want to."

She sighed as well. "This is really all I have to hope for, Love, is the hope that I can keep myself from going insane until I can somehow found a way out of all of this."

The pink-clad emotion put a hand on her shoulder. "Raven, that's the thing about your mind. Sometimes you can't control it. No matter how much you want to be able to."


	13. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 12

"What was that noise?" he asked, spinning around.

"What noise?" Red X asked, also turning in that direction as if it would magically identify what he was talking about.

He sighed, "I guess it was nothing. It just sounded like a stifled sob..." he trailed off, wandering for a moment if he should follow it. He decided that it would probably be the best idea. "Let's go," he said finally, motioning to the black-clad figure to follow after.

When they reached that alley, they were surprised to find Robin sitting in a puddle beside her. He wasn't crying, but he sure looked like he was going to. He wasn't even moving, but he was just staring at her in disbelief. She wasn't moving, but her chest rose every once in a while, signifying that she was still holding on to life.

There was no way to know what was going through the Boy Wonder's mind right now. His mouth was still hanging partway open, and he was just staring down at her eyes. Finally, his lips parted as he noticed them. "Did I really do this?" he asked numbly.

Beast Boy nodded sadly. "Dude, you've really lost it, haven't you?"

The masked eyes narrowed, but his mouth formed a grimace. He clutched the top part of her cloak to his chest and bit his lower lip. He just couldn't seem to bring himself to say anything. He just stared down at her with that same expression fixed on his face.

"Look, dude, we need to..." he started, trying to take Raven so that they could put her in the hospital wing.

Robin's grip tightened on her, but his face still remained the same. Apparently, he wasn't letting her go anywhere.

"Look, kid, we need to get her back to the Tower and fix her up. She still has a chance to live," Red X prodded, gently for once.

This at least convinced Robin to let go, but he still stayed kneeling down, even when she was in Beast Boy's arms. His head dropped to his chest, and the rain was pushing down his hair into his face. He looked so...broken.

"Maybe we should bring-" he started, putting his hand on his old friend's shoulder to help him up.

But that was taking things too fast. With a growl, Robin lashed out, sending the changeling flying backwards. He still didn't say anything, but this time he rose and stumbled out into the alleyways, the rain disguising his tracks.

For a moment, the two of them just stood there, dumbfounded, before he looked down at her to take her features all in for the first time. She had a long gash running down the side of her face, and her cloak was torn almost literally in half. "What happened?" he asked finally.

"From what I can see, the two of them fought for a-" Red X started to explain.

Beast Boy cut him off angrily. "No, I mean what happened to make Robin like this? He would never, ever hurt his friends like this unless he was going insane!"

Silence.

"He's...not insane, is he?" he asked tentatively.

Red X put a hand on his shoulder. "When we get back to the Tower, I'll tell you the whole story, but for now, I think it's time to get moving. We need to save Raven."

TTTTTT

As Raven watched her energy seep into the shrinking emotion's chest, Intelligence came running into the field, grinning wildly. "You're never going to believe what happened in the outside world!"

Raven raised an eyebrow. "How do you know about that kind of thing?" she asked.

"Your mind still registers thing even when you're in a coma. I'm that part of your mind, remember?" the yellow-clad emotion interrupted.

"Spit it out already," Love sighed, a bit annoyed.

Intelligence grinned, but her grin shrunk a bit when she saw Little Love's condition. "Is she conscious?" she asked quietly.

"Just barely. Raven's trying to save her right now, but unless we can save Beast Boy, I don't think that's going to help much."

Intelligence grinned again. "Well, do you know who's carrying Raven right this very minute?" she asked, excited.

"Robin?" Love asked a bit eagerly, earning hard looks from the others. "What? It would mean that he felt remorseful and wants to keep Raven alive!"

Raven sighed. "I give in, Intelligence. Who is it?"

Just then, a very excited Happiness (who was only about three feet tall) burst into the trees. "GUESS WHAT?" she screeched.

Intelligence slammed her palm into her forehead in a gesture of annoyance. "Happiness, when I said I wanted to surprise Raven, I did not mean that you needed to barge in as well."

"But it's just such great news!"

"WHAT IS?" Love and Raven shouted at the same time.

Intelligence grinned. "Beast Boy's alive!"

Little Love, though still weak, smiled broadly. "He is?" she breathed happily, then her eyes closed again.

Love threw her arms around her sister. "I never thought I'd say this, but I'm so glad to hear that!" she sobbed, hugging Little Love close.

Raven was still processing the information. "He's back?" she repeated.

Happiness grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Didn't you hear? The xinothium wore off! He was never really gone, just that his heart stopped for a while!"

Slowly, a smile spread over her face. "He's back," she whispered, and her heart filled with emotion as new tears sprung to her eyes. Maybe she had a chance to save herself from insanity after all.

TTTTTTTT

Jinx's eyes widened when she saw the three figures in the doorway; one walking dejectedly, one walking slightly bent over so that he could carry their companion, and the aforementioned companion laying across the second's arms.

"What happened?" she screeched.

Beast Boy ignored her and just kept walking. He walked straight over to the medical ward and lay her down on one of the beds. She rushed up behind him, spinning him around to face her. "What happened?" she repeated anxiously.

He couldn't look her straight in the face, but fixed his eyes on the ground. "Robin...and she...had a fight. And it didn't end well," he said simply.

Her hands flew to her mouth, and her heart overflowed with pity for him. He'd only been conscious for a few hours and already he was going to be put through so much. She couldn't hope to understand what thoughts were going through his head, but she did understand the look he was giving her. The plea for advice and consolation.

She bit her lip, trying to think of something to say. It was really hard to be the shoulder to cry on for everybody else, especially since she was so new to this hero business. "Well, I'm sure there's a..."

Suddenly, the door burst open and in strolled Cyborg. Or half of him at least. He had one leg and one arm on the opposite side, but he was supporting himself with a crutch and was sporting a huge grin. "I can't tell you guys how great it feels to be mobile again!" he laughed, then his expression dropped when he saw everyone else's. "What happened?" he asked.

_Everybody seemed to be asking that lately_, she thought to herself as she tried to come up with words to answer the question. "Well..."

Thankfully, Red X's blunt nature finally came in handy, and he spoke up. "Robin and Raven here had a clash, and the kid lost it. That's all we know."

Cyborg's mouth dropped open, but before he could say anything, Kid Flash ran in as well, grinning also. "We figured out how Beast Boy 'came back to life'!" he blurted out, then immediately stopped. "What happened?" he asked.

_Yep, definitely a recurring theme here,_ she thought as she walked over to his side. "Robin lost it, what else is new? But we all need some good news. What happened to bring him back?"

The signature smile crept back into the speedy hero's face. "Right. I guess we do need something happy, don't we?" After everyone else nodded slowly, he continued. "Well, we found out that one of the agents in that xinothium mixture can cause the heart to stop beating and brain function to shut down, but only for a period of time. See, depending on how much of that agent is in the mixture, it can be lethal, or it can just simulate death."

"So...there's a chance to save Starfire too?" Jinx asked happily.

"What happened to Starfire?" Beast Boy demanded, then blushed when the others glared at him. "Sorry. I know she's gone and all, but Raven wouldn't tell me what happened."

TTTTTT

He walked into the lair sadly, his head hung with shame and guilt and he walked wordlessly through the hallways. He walked right past Wintergreen and straight into the room where he was supposed to meet Slade.

"What was that all-"

"I'm _not_ in the mood!" he shouted before Slade could finish the sentence. "In case you haven't _noticed_, I'm under a lot of stress right now and shouting is _not_ exactly helping right now, okay? Just be happy that I destroyed the press and the power plant!"

"The Tower still has-"

"How many times do I have to tell you? I don't care how bad of an idea it may seem to keep it powered up, but I'm not going to let her waste away in there! I wired the power just so that they can't use communications or anything. What more do you want from me?"

With that, he stormed out before Slade could make any more comments. He knew he was probably going to get chewed out for this later on, but he really needed some time to think right now, and this wasn't going to help any.

"That was an unexpected turn," said a kinder voice behind him. Wintergreen.

He sighed. "Just be glad I'm talking again, okay?"

Wintergreen put a hand on his shoulder gently, and this time he didn't brush it off. For once, it was a comfort to know that someone was thinking about him. "You've been through a lot lately. I understand. But do you really want to punish yourself like this?"

He was taken aback. "What are you talking about? Aren't you happy that I came here, like _he_ is?" he asked, jerking his head in Slade's direction as he spoke.

"I am glad to see you, as your time as Slade's apprentice before was too short for me to try to befriend you, but please take into consideration the fact that you're not yourself. Try and get a grip and get over this sadness. It's only making things worse for you."

"What do you suggest? Every time I see them, the memories come back! How am I supposed to forget what happened if they keep walking back into my life?" he shot back.

He shook his head sadly. "All I'm saying is that you should try to feel more often."

"Well, I can't!" he shouted. "Don't you get it? Back there, when I saw her, just lying there, and realized what I had done, I _wanted_ to cry, but I _couldn't!_ I'm running out of emotions here, and I'm starting to lash out at everybody, even the only people who still believe I can pull through!" His voice dropped to a whisper as he added, "Do_ you_ think I'm going insane?"

A hurt look flashed in the butler's eyes as he muttered, "I don't know. I really don't."

"That's what I was afraid of," he sighed. With that, he turned slowly away and started to walk towards his room. Then, he thought once more about it, and turned back. "Do you think I can ever be normal again?"

When the butler seemed to be at a loss for words, he waved his hand in the air. "Forget it. I'm_ never_ going to be the same again, and I might as well-"

Suddenly, a hand on his shoulder stopped him, and he turned to see Wintergreen's forlorn expression. "That's right. You are never going to be the same again. These experiences will change you." He paused, then added, "But that doesn't mean that it has to change you in a bad way."

His eyes narrowed a bit, but he caught himself. The butler was only trying to help after all. "Well, I hope you're satisfied that I've actually had a long conversation with you, but I think I'll be going now," he said harshly, turning on his heel and stalking away.

But the butler's next words echoed in his ears as he stormed off. "I am satisfied. You're beginning to feel again, even if it is not the way you wanted it to go."

Exasperated, he slammed the door behind him, and sank backwards against it, running his hands through his ebony hair. How was he supposed to do anything if he was going insane? What was he going to do if he lost it again? And would Raven survive? He didn't know the answers, but he would have gladly traded his life to correct the mistakes he had made. Unfortunately, he couldn't change the past, and now the repurcussions were finally catching up to him.


	14. Chapter 13

Finally got a break in my big project, but I may not update very much for a long time.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 13

Beast Boy had just about had it. Up to _here_. The time to wait for his friend to return was over, and he was going to have his revenge. All those years of being thought too weak to do anything about what he needed, he was going to change that now.

He'd been "dead" for too long. Because of him, she had fallen into sadness, and now she was lying in the hospital wing, perhaps never to be awakened again. As soon as he'd had a word with her, he'd be off. Off to seek out and confront the idiot who couldn't see past his own emotions. The idiot that had done this to her.

He tentatively pushed the door open, making sure that he checked first to see if, in all reality, he really was going to be alone with her. Then he slowly crept over to her bedside and knelt down beside her sleeping figure.

"Hey, Rae? I know..." he choked a bit, then found his voice and continued. "I know you probably can't hear me, but if you can, please at least listen to what I need to say. I know that there's a chance that you won't come back, and I've seen your mind, so I know that you're probably in turmoil right now. I'm sorry that I was part of the reason. If I could, I'd just take everything that's been heaped up on you and put it on myself so that you could be free, but I can't, so here you are now."

Her breathing slowed for a moment, as if she were letting out a sigh of content. And was it just his imagination, or did a smile creep over her face? Perhaps she was not dying after all, but merely in a trance, as she had done before when he himself had lost it.

"Hehe," he laughed cautiously. "I guess that means you can hear me. Um...well, I guess what I wanted to say is that, well, back there, when we found you in the streets with him, part of me was just glad to see that he was feeling something, even if it was remorse, but the other part of me just wanted to lash out at him and knock him down right then and there for even thinking about hurting you. And now, I guess, is as good a time as any to tell you what I've been wanting to tell you for a long time now," he paused, wondering if this really was a good time. Perhaps he should wait until she was actually conscious...but no, if she were to never wake up, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he had never told her this. "Well, Rae, I think I..." he took a deep breath. "Well, I think I love you, but if you don't love me back, that's okay now. I've finally decided that whatever you want to do, it's all right with me, as long as you're happy." He smiled. "That's what love really is, I guess, is having the courage to let someone you love choose for themselves, isn't it?"

When she failed to move in response this time, his smile dropped, and he hung his head. He reached out to stroke her hair, then pulled his hand back for a moment, wondering if she would really allow him to do so if she were hanging on a thread of consciousness. But his feelings got the better of him, as often happens to those hopelessly in love, and he decided that it would be okay after all. Tentatively, he reached out and pushed a thread of her beautiful hair back away from her eyes and just gazed down at her face.

Even in these most dire times, she could still manage to be beautiful. The windows to her eyes had their shutters tightly closed in the lock of near-death, and her face was pale as the tomb, but she had that rare elegance, like the soft frost on a delicate flower. It seemed such a shame to him that a frost should have to come upon this flower, for it was such a lovely thing, and to be defiled by such evils as the wintry frost seemed unbecoming.

As he ran his trembling fingers over her face, he felt her warm breath on his hand, assuring him that she was still in the land of the living. He had to stifle a laugh as he imagined what exactly Love was saying about all of this, if indeed Raven was aware of what was going on, but he didn't care anymore. He was no longer in Nevermore, and thus he had the freedom to finally express himself.

Gently, as if by some slip of the hand he might cause the delicate petals of this perfect flower that were her lips, he brought his hand over those pale petals and was glad to feel warmth there as well, despite their white hue. She seemed so calm, even this close to death, that he was amazed at her gentle wonder.

"Rae, I want you to know something. I'm going after Robin," he said quietly, and a dark look crossed his eyes and his heart as well. He took her limp hand in his own and gently kissed it before continuing, "I'm going to make him pay for what he did to you. You were the only one who still had any hope in him, and yet you had to be the one that he did this to." Tears started to form in his eyes, but he brushed them away. Not now, he told himself. He couldn't cry now, not while he spoke to her of bravery and courage and avenging the wrongs that had been committed against her. "I'm going to find him," he whispered once more, biting his lip to keep the unseemly tears away.

For a moment, it seemed to him that the heart monitor registered a skip in the normal, steady, beat of her heart, but perhaps it was merely his imagination, for he saw no telltale rise of her chest nor any sign of change at all. Maybe he had just been imagining the clues that he had believed led him into thinking that she was just waiting for him beyond the boundaries of consciousness. Or maybe she could hear him and didn't care that he was pouring his heart out to her. That last hurt him to the core.

He looked to the window. He could hardly believe it, but already the sun was beginning to crawl out of its resting place in the sky. He sighed at this; in another life he would have complained at being up so early, but now, when he knew that he was going to avenge her, it didn't even matter to him anymore. Any joke he may have cracked before seemed empty in his mind. The others were wrong; they didn't have their jokester back. This past month or so had changed him from a flippant boy to a serious young man, one who was serious about what he did, one who was almost at the border of obsession in his quest for revenge.

"Rae, when you wake up," he paused. "I say when because I know that you will wake up, because I would die if you didn't. But when you wake up, please don't get on to me about being obsessed or anything, because I'm not. I'm not going to turn into somebody like Robin, I promise. I would never, ever hurt you in any way, Raven, and I want you to know that. If I seem obsessed now, it's only because I can't bear to let anything happen to you. Seeing you like this..." he trailed off, trying to find the right words to place exactly what he was feeling. "It breaks my heart. It breaks my soul. And I have to fix that, even if it means that I have to challenge one of my old friends." He paused, finally taking in what he was saying. "Rae, Robin's not our friend anymore. You know that now, don't you? He's not the same old Robin that we used to know, and I don't know if we'll ever be able to bring him back, even if we can bring Star back."

The window danced with a pink color, then fading to a light purple color. Purple...he sighed. Purple like her hair, the beautiful decorations that only added to the flower's beauty. Purple like her eyes, those glimmering jewels that seemed to outshine even the flower itself, as if she had been the most beautiful flower in the world and someone had paid tribute to such gentle softness by adorning it with two of the rarest gems in the world. She seemed to be too perfect, as if she had been created by angels as a test to all men on the earth.

Then there was a bright flash as the sun rose with all its brilliance. He blinked for a moment, trying to regain his bearings, then stared out into the waters that were still the slightest color of purple from the earlier dance that seemed to be almost a tribute to the girl now lying beside him.

He looked down at the frail hand in his own. Noticing a faint scar that ran across her knuckles, he traced that with his own fingers, quietly wishing that he could take all this, all this pain and bring it upon himself so that he might free her from it. But he was not able to do so, and now he was again powerless to do anything but to sit here and hope that this strong young lady could pull through so that he could find out if she really had heard his pleas.

Hearing the slight sound of footsteps that signified someone else's approach, he quickly kissed her gently hand once more, his eyes falling over the scar and thinking for a moment that it was the equivalent of the thorns of a rose before he transformed suddenly into a fly and waited for whoever it was to open the door.

The thundering footsteps of one and the light, stealthy footsteps of the other told him immediately who it was before the door was even opened, and he decided to delay his quest for revenge for a few minutes and listen to what these two could possibly be talking about at the crack of dawn.

"The way I see it, there had to have been some sort of stimuli to wake Beast Boy up, some sort of brain wave that might have caused him to come out of it. I'm picking up the same chemical in Star, but I just can't get her to wake up," Cyborg said as he hobbled akwardly right to the computers.

"Maybe she doesn't want to wake up," Red X said simply, causing his companion to whirl around in shock. He shrugged, then clarified, "Think about it. If you had just seen your boyfriend taunted with your own death to tears and insanity and then felt yourself slipping away before you could do anything to help him, how would you feel?"

Cyborg whistled slowly. "I guess that does make sense. But we need to wake her up if we have even the slightest chance to bring Robin back. He's already over the edge. You said yourself he even attacked the press earlier yesterday. If we're ever going to have even the slightest chance of shaking him back to reality, we've got to bring her back now while he's still having trouble not feeling anything."

X nodded, then added quietly, "I wish you could have seen the kid's face, Cyborg, when we found him with her in that puddle." He shook his head. "It was one of the scarier things I've ever seen. His face was just deathly pale and he looked like he had died years ago. He wouldn't even talk, or even let go of her until we insisted that she needed medical care."

"I've never seen him like this before," Cyborg agreed sadly.

"Somebody needs to knock some sense into him," Red X continued bluntly.

Neither noticed the tiny green fly on the wall nodding its head. He agreed with them absolutely, but he seemed to be the only one that was going to do anything about it. Oh well, he'd fought Robin once before, he'd just do it again on his own. He knew from experience that if he could put the jokes aside long enough, he could prove more than a match for many. All he had to do now was leave to start this journey of his.

"That's why we're going to bring Star back," Cyborg said, and the little green fly stopped in mid flight. As much as Beast Boy wanted to get revenge, he was also concerned about the welfare of his best friend.

Come to think of it, Starfire really was his closest friend. Sure, Cyborg would joke around with him and play video games with him, but when it came down to advice and sharing each other's sorrow and trying to help each other out, she was always there for him. She had endured the threat of Robin and Raven's possible relationship right alongside him and worked hard with him to prevent it. They had probably shared more laughs than he and Cyborg ever would, although this was probably because the naive Tamaranean actually laughed at his jokes. Now that he thought about it, she really was his closest friend, and he found that he wanted her safety more than he could push himself towards his revenge against Robin.

"How are we going to do that? We'd have to go inside her mind or something!" Red X sighed, a bit put off by how confident Cyborg sounded.

"Exactly. Didn't you know that Raven was an empath?"

The little green fly's eyes narrowed. They'd better not try and wake Raven up too early to save her. As great a friend as Starfire was to him, not even her safety could come before that of Raven's.

"Yeah, but I don't know how that's going to do us much good now that she's in a coma," X pointed out.

Cyborg smiled. "I know we'll have to wait until she wakes up, and maybe by then I'll actually be put together," he paused, gesturing towards the spots where his leg and arm were supposed to be, "but the point is that when she does wake up and has the strength to help us, she can go into Star's mind and convince her that we need her to come back. That Robin needs her to come back if he's ever going to be sane again."

Well, the plan could work, but he wouldn't let them touch Raven until she was good and ready, he decided, finally taking his leave. The little green fly became a small green bird that exited through the roof of the tower, pausing just over the spot that Raven had earlier pushed Robin off the roof before continuing on. All of this pain, all caused by one stupid mistake. Well, maybe he could correct the situation by wiping out the source of the mistake...

TTTTTTT

Raven was starting to find herself overwhelmed by the hoard of short emotions that came to her for support. Surprisingly, Timid was the first to ask for help. The poor thing had shrunk almost as badly as Little Love had, and she seemed almost too small for her robes. Indeed, she actually tripped approaching her to ask for help. She had scooped the cute little emotion into her lap and gladly given of her power to her.

Now she was tired and weak, but her emotions had the strength to continue on for a few more days without dying. The only problem was that, now that she was in a coma, even Intelligence would shrink if she didn't find a way out of this soon. Her mind was slowly detereorating, and she could do nothing about it.

So when the yellow-clad emotion came running up to her, she wasn't surprised to find that she had shrunk about a foot in the past few hours. "What's new in the outside world?" she sighed almost dejectedly.

"I've got good new that's bad for you and bad news that's just plain bad," Intelligence replied, then corrected herself, "What I mean to say is that there is much to report, but even that which seems good to others is not neccessarily expedient on your part."

"Out with it, girl, some of us are in dire need of some help, here!" Rude shouted.

"It appears that Cyborg and Red X have discovered the cause of the apparent death and revival of Beast Boy, and they believe that they can do the same for Starfire, but there must be a mental trigger in order for such a thing to happen, but she has retreated into her mind, so they need Raven to go into her mind so that she can pull Star out of this coma-like state and restore order and perhaps bring hope back for Robin-"

"YEAH!" Love shouted, then immediately blushed and backed away, muttering, "Sorry, please continue."

"Now for the terrible news. Beast Boy has decided that he must enact revenge on Robin, and, after much doting and confessing his love-"

"YES!" Little Love shouted, then blushed as her sister had done. "What? Aren't I allowed to be happy about that?"

Clearing her throat, Intelligence continued, "And he's gone to try and hunt Robin down!"

Raven's eyes widened at this revelation. "He did _what_ now?"

Intelligence nodded. "And if the two of them have their say..."

Raven bit her lip, looking away for a moment. "How can I stop it, though?"

"Well, you could always try and help Starfire, and get her to stop them," Little Love offered.

"But it could take a long time to even get her close to recovery!" she sighed.

Love put a hand on her shoulder. "Did it ever hurt to try? I'll tell you what. Intelligence and I will keep the less strengthened emotions from going out for three days. Three days, remember that Raven. Then you have to come back and help us out again, alright?"

Raven nodded numbly. "Do you really think I should?"

"Do you want to save Robin-"

"AND BEAST BOY!" Little Love bellowed from behind her sister.

"Right...and Beast Boy too...I guess...Do you want to save them or not?" Love asked, casting a strange look in her sister's direction.

She sighed. "More than anything, even life itself."

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Now, let's get situated. We'll hold down the fort over here and report what anyone else says to you when you get back," Bravery said, stepping into the conversation.

"If she gets back," Sadness said quietly, causing all of the emotions to cast nasty looks in her direction.

Raven took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's do this," she said finally.

In Starfire's mind, one would have expected to find flowers and such things that would remind one of happiness. Instead, it appeared very similar to the outer reaches of Raven's own mind: scarred, broken, dismal. At this point, Raven wasn't even sure if there was anything left TO save.

Suddenly, a small sound, much like a stifled sob, echoed in the dry air. "Go away," sobbed the pitiful voice, and she rushed towards it.

A hunched over, white-clad Starfire was sitting in the middle of this dry wasteland against the sole tree in her mind, yet this tree was withering, and would surely die soon. The girl had something in her hands, but what it was, she couldn't see at the time.

"Starfire, it's me! Raven!" she cried out joyfully, trying to convince her friend to come back, but instead several more leaves on the pitiful tree dropped off, and tired eyes, worn out from crying, looked up at her.

Finally, the white-clad Starfire held out her hands and showed her what she had been holding so close to her heart. Choking back a sob, she said quietly, "He left me." She peered closer at the wrinkled thing and saw that it was, in fact, a tear-stained memory of the outside world. A mask.


	15. Chapter 14

I've been swamped with schoolwork, and I'm sooo sorry it's taken me so long. To make up for it, I'm posting this chapter and the next one at the same time!

Disclaimer: Still hasn't changed

Chapter 14

He walked down the empty streets, reflected on how much destruction he had caused because of his anger. And yet he couldn't find any regret in his heart; it had become as stone ever since he had ran back into his friends.

The walls were crumbling, and a few were still sparkling with xinothium. It almost seemed as deserted as when Terra had helped take over, only this time the annoying thud of feet was conspicuously absent; he hated being at the front of an army, it seemed almost unbecoming to him. So he chose instead to simply amble along the streets, making sure that any and everyone was gone before he would move on.

It was actually a good feeling, this control that he had over the people. The only thing left was to lose himself to his emotions long enough to destroy those who might oppose him, and then he could finally be truly alone. The more he felt anger, the less he felt of anything else, thus the less he had to think about exactly why there was a faint light on the horizon where a certain island was situated.

Suddenly, he heard an angry roar from above, and looked up just in time to see a green hippo falling towards him. He dove out of the way, avoiding injury, but now thoroughly annoyed with this kid. "What do you want here?" he growled.

As the hippo changed into the short green Titan, he could see the anger that lay in those eyes. "You're going to pay for what you did to Raven!" the changeling shouted.

"Am I now?" he chuckled, his eyes narrowing. "And what makes you think that you, of all people, are going to make me?" he sneered.

With a shout, the changeling transformed into a T-Rex and charged towards him, but he quickly sidestepped the attack and prepared to simply freeze the clumsy feet to the ground, but before he could blink, the large green creature in front of him was gone.

It only took a second for his keen eyes to spot the tiny green fly, but a second was all that the changeling had needed. Suddenly, a green bear had him on the ground as he struggled to lift it up. It would only have been that much easier if he hadn't just finished taking over a city...

Finally, he found his strength and managed to get the green beast off of his chest and strike him hard with a steel-toed boot. The bear stumbled away, giving him enough time to restrategize. He knew that the changeling could be a huge threat when he really turned on his powers and laid all joking aside, and he was wondering how long it would be before that "beast within" came out.

With a spinning kick, he was able to knock the bear to the ground, and a green human took its place, rubbing its head for a moment before transforming into a gorilla and attempting to grab him aroung the middle to crush him. He nimbly dodged this, but only barely, and took hold of one of the gorilla's shoulder, preparing to flip it over his shoulder, but suddenly he was trying to hold up an elephant! He had moments to dive out of the way as the green beast came crashing down, and immediately both fighters were back up, the green elephant's eyes flashing dangerously.

He recognized that expression, furious, determined, near insanity. The poor kid was losing it just as he had. Good, let someone else try to deal with this kind of thing for once, he thought angrily.

The elephant charged at him, and he brought out a bo staff, flipping over the animal's head and hitting it hard over the head with the staff. Though the creature stumbled and for a moment, a dizzy human was visible, Beast Boy quickly got a hold of himself and transformed into a crocodile, its razor sharp teeth coming within inches of exposed skin. He jumped onto the mouth to close it, and suddenly found himself riding on a bull prepared to send him flying off into a wall.

As he flew through the air, he caught hold of the bull's horns, taking it down with him. For a moment, he rested, and the green Titan did also. Both boys stared at each other with hatred before the fight began again with Beast Boy changing into a cobra.

His eyes widened. It was a spitting cobra, one of the more dangerous snakes, and deadly. It didn't seem like Beast Boy to change into something that could cause death intentionally, but the changeling had obviously been hurt. Thankful that his mask shielded his eyes from the venom, he prepared to rush out to meet this new challenge.

"The kid obviously did his research," he muttered as he watched the snake slither towards him. As it coiled to strike, he jumped away, though some of the venom hit his arm. Wincing at the cold touch of the liquid, he grabbed his arm instinctively, then realized that he had given the changeling an opening and jumped aside just out of the reach of the fangs. The poison could not hurt him as long as it did not get into his blood stream, he simply needed to make sure that he was not hurt there. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done...

TTTTT

Raven dropped to her knees beside the small, pitiful girl. "What are you talking about, Star?" she asked quietly, a hand on her shoulder. "And why are you wearing white?"

Starfire weakly smiled up at her, but gently shrugged the hand off of her shoulder, sighing. "My Robin has left me alone. He did not think to make sure that I was indeed dead. I was not, and I was making every attempt to come and get him, but he never attempted to bring me back. He left me alone, and now I do not know what has been happening. Because no one has attempted to stimulate the waves of my brain, I am stuck here, and I have slowly been dwindling," she explained. "And, Friend Raven, I am wearing the white color because only Hope remains behind in what was once my version of Nevermore."

She looked around at the desolation. "This is your mind?" she asked incredulously.

The girl laughed quietly. "No, this is what is left of my mind, Raven. I used to let my emotions roam in a forest of many colors and flowers. It was a joyous place, and it was even more so when I had my Robin, but now he is gone and I am wasting."

Tentatively, she reached out to put a hand on her friend's shoulder for comfort, but the girl shrugged it off once more. "Please, Starfire, let me-"

"No, you cannot help me. I no longer wish to be helped. What more is there to do if Robin will not try to revive me? Does he no longer think of me? Was I merely 'the plaything'?" she wept.

"No!" she cried out, wiping away the tears from her friend's face. "Robin thinks the world of you, and you're lucky to be his girlfriend. Please, don't give up like he did just because-"

"What has happened to him?" Starfire interrupted, her eyes wide.

"I-"

"What has happened to Robin? You said that he has given up. Is that why he does not come after me? Oh, how selfish I have been to be thinking of myself when something has happened to him!" she cried.

"Starfire, I don't know how to tell you this, but Robin really did think that you...well...that you had died, and he sort of...went crazy," Raven said. This was really akward, trying to talk about something Starfire herself had brought about, though inadvertantly.

"How so? What did he do, Raven? Tell me what has been going on!" she demanded. She gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. "He did not...?"

She placed a hand on her shoulder, and this time the girl did not shrug it off. "No, Star, he's not dead, but he might as well be. He went to Slade."

At Starfire's shriek, Raven winced. "He did not! We must go after him and convince him to return to us! Where is he that I might be able to restore hope to his heart? Oh, Raven, help me to break free of my mind so that I may go after him!"

Raven looked away. "I...can't help you. At least not right now. Your mind isn't strong enough, and an attempt could be fatal for both of us. So here's what you and I need to do. We're going to help to rebuild your mind, and then we'll talk about getting out of here, alright?"

Starfire smiled gratefully. "Raven, you truly are my dearest friend," she gushed, and when she did so, a small purple bud grew on the tree filled with otherwise dismal leaves. A ray of hope in the darkness.

"Starfire, please, I don't deserve that kind of praise," she sighed, turning away as her face got red.

"Why do you not take pride in my feelings of affection? Do you not wish to be my friend any longer now that Robin and I are doing the 'going out'?" she inquired.

"No, no," she shook her head, inwardly trying to convince herself as well, "no, it's just that, well, I've been so jealous of you and your obvious power over Robin's heart, and I just wish that I could have done that before my time had passed."

Starfire smiled reassuringly. "Raven, I do not wish for a boy to come between our friendship. If it means that I must postpone my happiness until you can gather your emotions once more, I will postpone the 'going out' for now. As long as you are safe from harm, I will do so. Besides, if what you say is true, Robin may need to be alone for some time after we get him back."

"If we get him back-"

"Do not speak in such a way! There is always hope, as you have seen by my presence here! I am attempting to be your friend, and yet you still have such a dark outlook on everything that is going on! At least you do not have to work as hard to gain the affections of the one you love! You had a choice, but I did not. Do you not understand that Beast Boy has been doing the crushing on you ever since he 'got over' Terra?" she screeched.

"I had noticed that he was being nicer..."

"But you were too busy attempting to win Robin's heart! Tell me, if I had not interfered, how would Beast Boy be now? Would he not be crushed, devastated, alone? Did you not think of him when you were so caught up in your emotions?" the Tamaranean paused. "I am sorry. I have no right to be shouting. You may feel however you wish to feel about whomever you wish, and I have no reason to be angry at you for your emotions, which are beyond your control in many areas, as they are for us all. Please forgive me for doing the 'exploding' on you."

"No, no you had every right to explode. I was being selfish and pessimistic, and you were trying to be optimistic even when your situation was worse than my own," she admitted quietly.

Finally, Starfire spoke up once more. "Raven, will you please sing with me?"

She was taken aback by the suggestion. "Sing with you? Why?"

"I wish to feed the emotion of love, and the best way that I can think to do so is to sing the lullaby that I remember hearing as a young child. It brings back to me the memories filled with love, and perhaps in this way we could begin to build my mind back up," Starfire explained.

"Alright..."

Starfire took a deep breath, and Raven prepared to wince, but instead there was a beautiful melody led by a gorgeous voice, and she could hardly believe that this was a Tamaranean song, much less that it was indeed Starfire who was singing it.

"Shoft'ash, min shaloff, shoft'ash, min lab'nic.

Shoft'ash ant'landar bilat'e

Shoft'ash und'ringash tir na'afta fiaron

Tri'ard ur'amri soktu min'ash."

It was a slow and soft melody, and Raven could almost hear the words behind it, yet she could not place it. "Starfire, could you perhaps translate it?" she asked quietly.

The Tamaranea princess opened her eyes slowly, as if reluctant to come back from her memory, but she nodded anyway. "In your language, it would be 'sleep, my love, sleep my child, sleep little one, sleep until the night sky brightens, and then shall dreams be done."

She nodded slowly, digesting the information. "I like it. I would be honored if you'd teach it to me."

Starfire beamed. "Yes, but I must warn you, it has five verses, all of which are in Tamaranean and best if sung in that language. Would you be willing to sing in my native tongue with me?"

"I guess so."

"Glorious! Now, repeat my words: Shoft'ash, min shaloff..."

And as the girl spoke, Raven noticed that the tree seemed to strengthen, and two or three flowers even managed to bloom. Perhaps this feat was not impossible after all. She smiled. "Shoft'ash, min shaloff," she repeated, and the words seemed to roll clumsily off of her tongue.

Starfire giggled. "Your pronounciation is very close, Friend Raven, but your accent is not vivid enough to give it justice. Try it again: Shoft'ash, min shaloff."

Raven obeyed, smiling at the joy in her friend's face when she finally had a "close enough" accent. The remaining dead leaves of the tree fell to the ground as new blossoms began to make themselves known in the branches.

But then Starfire got to the third verse and bit her lip, almost forcing herself to speak the next part.

"Bunt'na, min shaloff, itni'if ur'indor entre'issor hal'nif tressor...

Mist'riea min coba'ash tressor conti'ago

Tri'unade yora noc trog'isn sit ustaff gi'aran

Shoft'ash, min shaloff, bunt'na nofta shri'an karian..."

The once broad smile gave way to tears, and another tree began to sprout far off, the root of the tree of Sadness, no doubt, or Misery. "Starfire? Starfire, what's wrong?" Raven asked, confused by this sudden change in emotions.

"The words are so like Robin's situation that I find them hard to speak!"

Raven sighed. "I'm afraid I don't follow, Starfire. What's wrong. What is it that the words are saying?"

Taking a deep, rasping breath, Starfire nodded, then repeated the verse, this time in English.

"But, my love, if you should somehow die

Let my soul die with you

For I am nothing without your light, so

Sleep, my love..."

She paused to catch her breath in between sobs, then finished:

"...but not too long."


	16. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I own nothing except maybe the storyline.

Chapter 15

He gasped as a sudden pain shot up the previously unaffected arm. He had been so concentrated on avoiding the sprays of poison from the green cobra before him that he had forgotten to look where he was going. It was a painful reminder of just how much xinothium hurt when he came into physical contact with it when he brushed up against the wall.

Bringing out his bo staff, he tried to pin the snake down at the base of the head where it would be more vulnerably, but the green creature became instead a large buffalo, slamming into his exposed torso as he had bent down to deliver the blow. All of his breath rushed out at once and he had to stifle a groan as he once again slammed into the xinothium covered wall.

"Had enough?" smirked Beast Boy, transforming momentarily into a human as the Boy Wonder tried to catch his breath.

"Not even close," he replied angrily, throwing a freeze disc at the young Titan, momentarily rendering the changeling immobile. He sighed in something close to relief, but when he looked up at the block of ice, there was nothing in it. A low growl escaped his throat as he saw the small hole in the ice where a green mouse had slipped out. Alright, so the kid had done research to find an animal for every attack that he had in his belt, huh?

Again, the green cobra was before him, this time with a much greater advantage. A small scratch had penetrated his skin on his right leg. Though not neccessarily significant in normal battle, this tiny opening would provide a way for the poison to enter his system if Beast Boy aimed it right.

Robin saw this, and reached into his belt to pull out a grappling hook. He was glad to have such easy access to familiar gadgets, as it was finally proving to be an advantage. Giving the rope a slight tug to make sure that it was sturdy enough to hold him, he jumped up out of reach of the deadly fangs.

The green cobra become a large hawk and dove at the boy climbing up the wall. He jumped out of the way just in time, although the hawk's sharp talons managed to sink into his upper arm. In anger, Robin grabbed the green bird by the neck and slammed it against the wall, stunning it. The green creature fell to the ground, changing back into a human.

Beast Boy rubbed his neck, grimacing. He tried to change into a rhino, but when he did so, he fell slightly to the side. Robin had broken his right arm. The changeling attempted a bird, but it would not take flight.

He grinned. "Not so tough now, huh?" he smirked, but his relief was short-lived, for a green monkey climbed up beside him and jumped onto his face. As he struggled with both the stench filling his nostrils (sweat and fur made a potent combination) and the weight on his head, his hands slipped and both boys fell to the ground.

He landed on the green changeling, both boys rubbing their heads. As he jumped to his feet, he noted that the green Titan was no longer here. As he glanced furtively about, he felt a stinging sensation in his leg. He looked down, and to his surprise, he saw a green cobra, its fangs embedded into his skin.

"You bit me," he gasped, surprised that Beast Boy would have it in him to even do something like that.

"You broke my arm," Beast Boy countered.

A small "oh" escaped his lips before his hands went instinctively to his leg and he doubled over. Already, the poison was started to spread throughout his body, and he shuddered. He tore fabric from his sleeve and tied it around his leg and cutting off the circulation to his leg, hoping to stop the flow of poison.

"Now who's the weakling?" Beast Boy snarled before leaving the former Boy Wonder alone, shuddering from the sudden effects of the poison. This was one challenge he was not sure he would make it through...

TTT

As the door opened, everyone turned to watch as he stumbled in. Every eye was on him, everyone wanted to know where he had gone. Perhaps it would have helped matters if he hadn't been cradling his arm or sporting a badly torn uniform.

"Beast Boy, where were you? What happened?" Jinx demanded, rushing to support him over to a couch.

He grinned evily, something that none present were used to him doing. "Oh, I was just...tying up some loose ends," he answered.

Cyborg's eyes narrowed as he hobbled over to sit down next to his friend. "BB, tell the truth. We're really worried about you, and you came back all beat up, and..."

He growled. "It was busy, alright? I had a little trouble getting back, but trust me, you'll thank me for this later! Now can everyone please just get off my back?"

Everyone immediately backed away, surprised to see the normally upbeat Titan so...angry. He sighed. "I'm sorry, it's just that I just got back from something that was extremely hard for me to do and..."

"Well, what was it? Maybe we can help you deal with it," Kid Flash offered. "After all, we're all pretty much in the same boat with all these emotions suddenly hitting us, and maybe we can give you some advice about that. Besides, you can't keep things to yourself, that's what got Robin in the position that he's in."

He shook his head respectfully, saying, "No, I think I'll have to wait and see if I really did get it right before I tell you what happened."

"Are you sure?" Jinx pressed.

He nodded, turning to leave, then added over his shoulder, "Oh, and if you happen to take a walk, you just might figure it out." Smirking, he walked out of the room, heading straight for the hospital ward. He knew that now that he had done the deed, he was going to have to tell Raven about it. She might not be too happy with it...

The door opened slowly and he walked inside. The very first thing that he noticed was that she seemed...paler than usual. Not only that, but she was noticeably thinner, and the waves recorded on the machines surrounding her had become only slight pulses. Was she losing her grip on life?

"No!" he shouted despite himself, rushing to her side and holding her hand up to his lips, kissing it gently. "No, Rae, no, don't give up on me just yet. I have some wonderful news for you, and it should help you to stop worrying about what I just told you. I won the fight Rae, I won it! He may have broken my arm, but I got him! I turned into a cobra, Rae! Even as I tell you this, he's dying! Rae, I won! Be happy for me, Rae, and wake up! Please, wake up!" he choked, lifting the limp hand up to meet the tears on his cheeks.

"Don't lose hope on me, Rae. I did this for you. Don't make it have been in vain," he sobbed quietly.

TTTTTT

He had to admit it; he was amazed, shocked. There his apprentice lay, shivering on the ground, from an attack by one who was previously thought of the be no more than a slight danger. Yet there was the image before him.

There was nothing to say, nothing to do about it, other than to rush out to get some help to the boy. They had come so far, and the young man had been progressing so far, so close to becoming a younger version of himself, so close to becoming the apprentice he could be, that it would be a shame to have to give up so easily.

Wintergreen took action as well. Within seconds, the butler was back at his side, holding a strange bottle and glistening needle. Well, at least there was some action that they could take to save the pitiful figure in the streets.

"How long do you think he has?" he asked tersely as they took off running.

"It does not look good, sir," was all the butler said, his voice tinged with worry.

He started running faster, thinking of nothing else but the goal to save this former hero. He didn't know why he cared so much about this boy's safety. Was it because he saw himself in that boy? Or was it because he finally had what he had been working so hard to achieve and was unwilling to let it go? But wasn't this what he had wanted? Hadn't he wanted to destroy the Titans? But not Robin, he hadn't wanted to destroy Robin. So much potential... He couldn't just throw that away.

As he turned the corner, he realized that he hadn't been prepared for it. Robin was even paler than he had been when he had come to ask to be an apprentice again. There was absolutely no color in his face whatsoever, and his breathing was erratic.

"What...what are you...?" Robin gasped, but could not even finish the question. His eyes closed and his mouth opened in a silent scream, and he gripped his leg even tighter.

"Believe it or not, I'm about to save your life," he answered, smirking inwardly at the shocked expression on his apprentice's face.

"Now, don't squirm," Wintergreen commanded as he quickly filled the needle and injected the boy with the antidote.

Though his eyes widened as the needle went into the flesh on his leg, Robin did not move, and Slade had to admit that the boy was stubborn and determined, like himself.

The former Boy Wonder started to gasp for breath; each inhale was a chore and each exhale was the expulsion of precious energy. The antidote needed to take hold soon, or else the boy would surely die.

The young man's chest rose and fell heavily, then was still for a moment. His head lolled gently to the side, and he seemed to be dead. But he couldn't be, no, not Robin, not his apprentice.

"No!" he shouted despite himself.

"I'm sorry, but there is nothing else that we can do," Wintergreen said sadly.

"There must be something!" he growled angrily, upset with himself for not getting there in time and annoyed with Robin for being in this predicament in the first place.

"There is nothing more that is in our power to do, I'm sorry," his butler repeated again, his head on his chest.

He sighed, preparing to move the body lying on the ground, but Wintergreen suddenly held out a hand to stop him. "Wait," he said gently before anything else could be done.

For a moment, there was nothing but the sound of the slight wind left by the exit of the recent storm, but then the sound came; the small but hopeful sound of a tiny gasp of breath. Even as he watched, lips white with the pale hue of death parted to let a small amount of air in.

"He's just as stubborn as you are," Wintergreen remarked, though he could not hide the relief in his voice; Robin was holding on to life, even just barely.

"Yes, he is," he mused. "But the question is: is it enough?" he asked quietly, and even as he spoke, there was a lull in the tiny sips of breath.


	17. Chapter 16

I've been getting up at five am to go to seminary, so i figured i might as well write during that time. I finally have a way to get stuff up!

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything but the storyline.

Chapter 16

"So, what else has made you feel confused?" Raven pressed gently. The two girls were sitting up in the fully grown tree of Hope, chatting happily as they attempted to awaken various emotions. Although most of the trees were still only just sprouting and would most likely take some time to grow into real trees, already grass was beginning to fill the once desolate land, and even a few flowers had managed to show up.

Starfire sighed. "Well, there was one time in which my powers failed me completely, for I was too confused to find strength to feel the emotions needed to use them."

"What happened?" Raven gently prodded.

Looking away, Starfire replied, "I do not wish to feel confusion again. It was not a pleasant experience, and I felt as if I were not a true warrior any longer."

Raven put a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder, silently conveying the message that yes, it may have been a hard experience, but there was a friend by her side. She didn't even have to say anything; they were such close friends that the message could be understood plainly.

"Do you remember when our ship crashed and we were stranded on the unfamiliar planet?" Starfire asked quietly.

She nodded, smiling slightly at the memory. She hadn't understood how the others could have had such a hard time on that planet, as she had been treated like royalty, but apparently, she had crash landed on the good side of the planet.

"Just before the crash landing, Robin had denied that I was the 'girlfriend' and then told me to 'give him space'. Of course I was angry, and I did the 'silent treatment' as you often do when Beast Boy is doing the annoying you. Yet the entire time, I was confused. He would not tell me how he felt."

She put a hand on the Tamaranean's shoulder. "It's okay, Star. Robin's...complicated. He tends to keep secrets, and that's often his greatest downfall. We're not meant to understand it sometimes."

Starfire nodded in response. "I have seen that only too many times in him."

Trying to think of something else to talk about, seeing as the tree of Sadness was already beginning to grow into a tall, stong one, she asked, "So, what's left?"

Starfire bit her lip and looked the other way, barely whispering her response. "There is only anger and jealousy left, and I do not wish at all to revive them."

Though Raven understood the Tamaranean's reasoning behind such a request, she refused to accept it. "Starfire, I'm really sorry, but you're going to have to talk to me about it. These emotions are all part of you, no matter how much you don't want it to be true. I would know. I wish every day that I never possessed the emotion of anger, but I do."

For a moment, Starfire was silent, and her eyes closed in remembrance. When they opened once more, they bored right into Raven's own eyes, filled with hurt and...anger.

Raven didn't even have to ask what memory Starfire had been returning to as the trees of jealousy and anger sprung up like weeds. A recent memory, most likely, and not a pleasant one at that.

TTTTTT

He knew that he was't dead, but he definitely wasn't alive. Not truly. It was as if he was suspended in his own mind, locked in his own memories as they replayed before him. First meeting Starfire...Blackfire's visit...Raven's premonitions about Terra...being stranded on the alien planet...saving Raven from her father...hugging Starfire (several of these moments played through his mind)...Raven hugging him...

His heart skipped a beat. Here it comes. The memory reel of recent events. Waking up in Red X's makeshift dungeon...almost kissing Raven...getting captured trying to save Raven...He winced when he recalled the xinothium poision. Then he saw Raven pushing him off the Tower...making a cake with Starfire...

NO! he wanted to shout. Stop the movie! No more! I don't want to have to relive this! No good. He saw Doctor Light sneering at him when he was overcome with grief over his loss of Star...desperately trying to find a heartbeat...watching Raven's monitors blank out...trying to find Red X but failing...then coming to Slade.

He couldn't help the grin that came over his face as he recalled beating Kid Flash and Jinx. Then fighting Red X...seeing Raven again as she tried to keep him from killing Chang...seeing himself reflected in Beast Boy...talking to Wintergreen...going insane with grief as he watched Beast Boy and Red X carry Raven away...fighting the changeling...being bitten...

Finally, he saw Slade helping him. Was that concern he saw? Was that worry? In Slade? Slade?

Then, after that last memory, everything was dark. When they said that your life flashes before your eyes as you die, they really meant it. He had no idea where he was, only that there was an overwhelming darkness everywhere, so thick that he felt as if he could reach out and take a chunk out of the air in front of him, but he couldn't move. Why couldn't he move?

Then the voices started to break through his conscience. "I think he's starting to come around."

"Well, he's been out for nearly thirty two hours. He should start coming around."

Why couldn't he say anything? Why couldn't he move? Feeling was slowly returning to him, and he could sense the cold metal beneath him. Great. More hospitals. Only this one was a Slade version. He still couldn't see, but that was okay, as long as it meant that he didn't have to officially know that he was in the hospital.

"How long do you think he will last this time?"

What did they mean by that? Had he woken up before? What was going on?

"I hope longer than the last time. Five minutes would even be helpful."

He was beginning to make out shapes. And colors. Black and orange blobs...no, one blob. And a white and grey blob directly above him. Slade and Wintergreen, no doubt.

"Robin? Can you hear us?" Now he could discern who the voices were. That one was Wintergreen.

Ah! If only he could move! His body seemed determined to drag out his awakening for as long as possible. First to come back was his hearing, strangely enough, and now it seemed that his eyesight was coming back as well. He could see clearly now, and he was definitely in a hospital. Just great. That's what he'd always wanted.

"Robin, respond." Yep, that was Slade. Not that concerned somebody that he had seen in his memories.

What else could he do? He couldn't move his mouth, but his eyes seemed to be working fine. He blinked rapidly. Yes, he was awake and listening. Give him some time, for crying out loud!

Wintergreen sighed in relief. "I think he's coming back all the way this time."

Then his sense of feeling came back to him, all at once. He could move now, but that wasn't neccessarily a good thing. Every bone in his body was sore, and his blood ran chill. A sudden pain shot up his spine, and he sat right up. But he still couldn't talk. His mouth opened to scream, but nothing came out. He was aware of the dryness in his vocal chords, and he swallowed, trying to find words or sounds, anything.

"Well, he's alive. See if you can help him find his bearings." And Slade was gone. Yet Robin had noticed something in his voice...something like...relief? After everything he had thought about Slade, his whole perspective was falling apart. Relief? He shook his head, glad that he could now do so. This whole thing was just...confusing.

TTTTTT

Her heart was racing. She had to tell the others sooner or later. It was a burden that she had born for some time now, almost two days. And she still had not yet had the courage to tell them. Why should she have such courage? That was Bravery's department.

Intelligence sighed. After years of thinking herself the less emotional one, she was finding otherwise. She was...scared to tell the others. They weren't going to like it. At all.

The first ones that she would have to tell would definitely need to be Love and Little Love. After all, Robin and Beast Boy were involved, and they had the right to know about that sort of thing. She approached the two sisters, both sleeping contentedly in their hammocks, with great apprehension.

"Love?"

"mmmfph. Fivemoreminutes," the emotion muttered.

She hesitated, wondering if she should wake them up or not. Although they had already had their healthy eight hours of sleep, both emotions were exhausted from days of trying to help the other emotions to keep from fading away. But, as always, reason got the better of what little emotion she might have possessed. That was her job, after all.

"Love!" she persisted, shaking the light pink-clad emotion.

"WHAT?" she shouted, accidentally falling out of the hammock.

"Are you okay?"

Love brushed herself up, rising slowly. "Yeah. What is it?"

Intelligence bit her lip. "I need to talk to you about something. Do you think your sister could come with us as well?"

Love looked back at Little Love, who was sleeping peacefully. "I wouldn't want to wake her. The stress of knowing that Beast Boy fought Robin and not knowing the result is slowly killing her. She's finally got a good night's rest."

Intelligence nodded. "I understand. Well, I don't know how to start, so let's just go on a walk, shall we?"

Love peered at her curiously for a moment. "Sure..."

The two of them walked through the dark forest in silence for a while. Intelligence noticed the wilting leaves, the dried up flowers. Raven's mind was dying, and she was about to reveal news that would only help it along. But still, her thoughts that the others had to know pushed emotion out of her mind.

"Love, I have to tell you something important, but you're not going to like it at all," she finally admitted.

"Yeah? What is it?" Love asked, her expression solemn.

"I believe you recall the day when Beast Boy announced to Raven that he was going after Robin?"

"How could I not? That memory haunts my sister and I more than you will ever know," Love replied sadly.

Intelligence stopped staring directly into Love's eyes. "Love, I lied when I said that I didn't know the outcome of that fight. One of the fighters...is dead or dying at this very moment."

Love's eyes widened. "Who was it?" she asked, though it was obvious that she didn't really want to know.

Intelligence looked away, no longer able to meet her gaze. "It was Robin."

For a moment, Love's mouth just hung open. Her hands then flew to her mouth and she sank to her knees. "Robin?" she repeated, and the plea in her voice was evident: don't let it be him!

"I wish it wasn't true, Love. I wish that I could bring you good news, like that Beast Boy just came back wounded or that the fight was postponed because of weather or something! I would lie through my teeth if I could, but I couldn't keep from telling you what I know!" Intelligence cried out. Then, she sank to her knees beside Love. "That's my job."


	18. Chapter 17

I promise I have been working! I have!

Disclaimer: Same as always

Chapter 17

It was infuriating trying to move his leg. It just would not respond. At this point, he wasn't even sure what muscle he needed to flex, just that he couldn't move it.

They said that he'd regain the ability to move it in due time, but since when had he ever been patient enough to wait for 'due time'? After all, waiting around was an invitation to his memories to come back. And come back they did.

Each one played in succession every time he closed his eyes. The same order as when he was unconscious, and always the same ones. The ones that were forever engraved in his mind.

He should have felt embarassed to be hobbling around on a crutch, but he didn't even care at this point. No one was around to see him. Beast Boy would have been inside tending to his arm, Jinx and Red X would have been helping Kid Flash build Cyborg, and Raven...would be...

Alright, so he was feeling a little guilty. No big deal. He could handle a little guilt, as long as it didn't come crashing down on him. He should just be glad that he could walk around now.

He stopped short of the park, afraid to go inside. It was Starfire's favorite place, and he had so many fond memories... No, he'd better just go on. The park wasn't destroyed, he had made sure of that. The park and the Tower.

Speaking of the Tower... His stomach lurched. Could he really bring himself to go and visit that old relic of his past? And what of the threats within? Yet something seemed to be drawing him towards the Tower anyway. Fate? Destiny? No, he'd never been a believer of that sort of thing. Maybe it was that strange soup Wintergreen kept trying to force down his throat.

He stared up at the cracked glass where the second hospital wing was. That would be where Beast Boy was, as he had been sure that Starfire's accomodations were much better. The best, really. So why was the light on in the other wing? Ah, perhaps Raven was there as well, that would explain it.

His hand went instinctively to his belt, and he had to fight the urge to pull out a grappling hook. No, he shouldn't try to visit the girls, that would only be disastrous for him both physically and emotionally. Besides, he definitely couldn't scale the wall in this condition.

That same force kept urging him forward. "Climb the wall, climb the wall. You need to see her again." He shook his head, mutterd aloud, "No, no, I couldn't handle that." His eyes widened as he realized that he had said it aloud. Was he really so insane as to start talking to himself?

He gazed up at that window. He knew exactly where it was. His other memories of how the Tower looked may have been old and untouched, but this one wouldn't ever leave him. Somehow it seemed different, or maybe that was because it no longer reminded him of his fear of hospitals. Yes, his fear. Slade's 'hospital' was worse than anything.

Then, all of a sudden, something glowed in that room. Whether it was the glow of a starbolt or not, he couldn't tell, but it made his heart jump. Was it really green? No, no, his eyes were just playing tricks on him. He needed to go lie down.

There it was again! And this time, he was certain of its color: green.

TTTTTT

"And you're sure that you can take care of yourself?" Raven asked one more time, though it was a strain to talk. She was fading fast, and she knew it. She'd have to get back to her own mind, and soon.

"Friend Raven, right now I am the more concerned for your well being. You have instructed me well on how to activate my own consciousness, and I believe I can definitely do the taking care of myself," Starfire replied, tears of gratitude still present in her eyes.

Raven looked to the tree that was hope. A large flower had grown in the center of it, where, according to Starfire, the personage of Hope was to be born. They had come so far, and now she was about to leave to salvage what was left of her mind. What a drastic change it would be! "Alright, well, just be sure that you don't try to break concentration too early, okay?"

Starfire hugged her; not one of those big bear-hugs, but a loving, gentle embrace. As she pulled away, she whispered, "I truly mean what I have said. You are my greatest friend."

Raven smiled, then closed her eyes in concentration. "Azarath... Metrion... Zinthos."

The image of Starfire's 'Nevermore' faded and eventually turned to black as she was pulled back into her own body. With a small grunt, she landed on the cracked ground of her own mind. She glanced around. Wow, there was a lot of work to be done. Yet even as she thought those things, she noticed that her mind was suddenly weighed down with terrible thoughts.

"Raven!"

She winced. Of all the voices to be calling her name, it had to be Intelligence, the bearer of bad news. "Yes, I'm back. And Starfire's strong enough to return to normal in a matter of minutes. Now we can get back to work here. I've been feeling so much joy lately that it can only help. And Love should get a kick out of this one; Starfire said that she wouldn't try to stop Robin from liking me anymore out of respect!" It didn't sound like her, she knew, but she wanted to activate as many emotions as possible before Intelligence weighed her down again.

"Raven, I have to tell you something..."

She shook her head. "No, I need to talk to the other emotions before anything else. We still have a chance to turn this place around, don't you see? Starfire was supposedly dead and we still managed it!" Her voice was almost pleading now. Whatever happened, she would not hear this bad news.

"I don't think there's much you can do to raise their spirits now," Intelligence replied sadly.

"Would you just call them together?"

Intelligence bit her lip. "We're going to have to meet over in the trees. Love and Little Love have been slowly fading away, and, believe it or not, Love's going to be the first one to go."

Those words hit her like a harsh gust of wind. "What happened?" She caught herself. "Never mind. I need to boost everyone's morale before-"

"Don't you get it Raven? Robin's DEAD! That's why Love's dying! He's DEAD!"

Someone had slapped her. Surely she was dreaming. Yes, this was a dream. She'd wake any minute now to find Starfire sitting beside her, happily patting the budding flower of Hope. "No," was all she could think to say.

Intelligence chewed on the bottom of her lip. "I'm sorry, but it needed to be said. If it's any consolation, your actions just then strengthened Love, Happiness, Hope, and even Little Love. So they're not going to die out just yet. You can still talk to them if you want to."

"And Beast Boy, is he-"

"No, he's the one that did it. I'm sorry Raven, I really am, but I had to tell you. It's my job."

"Who else is still alive?"

"Love, Little Love, Happiness, Hope, Sadness, Timid, and Anger."

"The others? Confusion? ...Bravery?"

Intelligence shook her head. "Bravery was the first to go, actually. You've missed a lot, Raven. And we missed you too."

"So...that's it? I'm never going to come out of this coma?"

"I wouldn't say never, but you'll be insane if you don't hurry," Intelligence replied, a sad smile present on her face.

Raven sunk to the ground, her hands running through her hair. "I knew it would be a change, coming from Star back over here, but..."

"You weren't expecting this much of a change, were you?"

She nodded, but tears wouldn't come. They couldn't. Finally, she looked up at Intelligence. "That's just it then, I'll never wake up."

In alarm, Intelligence asked, "What are you talking about?"

"There's nothing left," she sighed, "nothing left to live for."

"Raven, please think about this-"

"That's your job, and you've done quite enough of it, don't you think?" she snapped.

Intelligence hung her head. "I guess I may have."

TTTTTTT

Now Beast Boy understood the importance of being locked in a study. It gave you a sense of security. No one could see you there.

Of course, it didn't exactly feel right to be in the same room that your victim had once inhabited, but he wasn't about to leave, either.

"Come on, BB, I know you're in there! Unlock the door!"

He smiled. For once in his life, he was glad that Robin had installed such ingenious locks on this place. It kept intruders out nicely, and more importantly, kept him in. Besides, he liked it here. Everything was dark except for the computer screen.

His arm was in a cast, so it was harder to work, but he managed. He'd been writing obituaries. Though he was't a novelist or anything, it would suffice. The easiest to do was Robin's, as he didn't really care if it was well done or not. Starfire's was really difficult to do, as he had a hard time typing when he thought about all the great things she had done for him.

But Raven's was the hardest to do of them all. He hadn't even opened the folder yet to start. Every time he tried to start, the words seemed wrong. Nothing could describe her, and nothing would ever come close.

He didn't know why he was writing obituaries when they weren't even technically 'dead' yet, but it was something to do. He wasn't like Robin; he couldn't just obsess over Slade or some other villain. He had to find something less extreme to occupy his mind with.

"I'm not coming out!" he shouted back at Cyborg, who was the one pounding on the door this time.

"I don't care if Robin's left us or not, you're not supposed to be in there!"

"I can if I want to! Besides, what is he going to do about it?"

"Starfire's showing signs of waking up! It'll only be a matter of time before he comes back, and then he'll know that you were here!"

"What makes you so sure he's coming back?" The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. And what scared him most was how...smug he sounded. So proud of what he had done. Well, he wasn't proud.

He knew now why Robin hardly ever slept. Once you'd done something regrettable, it haunted each night's dreams. Ever since his act of violence, he had refused to let his eyes close. He had once, but never would again. All he could see written on those eyelids was that hauntingly pale face and those eyes that widened behind the mask.

"What makes you so sure that he's not coming back?"

"If only you knew," he muttered under his breath. "If only."

Finally, after a long period of silence, the pounding stopped, and he could hear quiet voices outside the door. "He's not coming back," said Cyborg.

"Of course he's not coming out. The only time he ever comes out is to eat, and that was just once. And even then, did you see how pale he is? I can hardly even tell that he's supposed to be green!" That was Jinx. It had to be. It was the only feminine voice left to hear.

"Well, what did you expect? From what I could find, he and Robin had a fight of some kind. Don't you think something happened?" Red X scoffed. So the black-clad teen had been investigating, had he? And no body? Perhaps he hadn't done such a good job after all.

"Yeah, but it couldn't possibly be that bad. The only people I've ever known to lock themselves away are you and Robin, and that's just because you were insane. And maybe he was too, you could never tell." And that had to be Kid Flash, the only one who even remotely retained a sense of humor anymore.

He yawned, tired of listening to their conversation. He propped his feet up on the table, but slipped in his exhaustion and hit the mouse instead.

"Are you sure you want to open file X197?" the computer asked him.

Snooping. Well, it was better than staring at a screen and trying to force himself to write about the death of one he had loved. He clicked. "Sure, whatever."

To his surprise, a slide show popped up onto the screen. The first slide read: Teen Titans. Not surprising, he figured, as this was Robin's computer. The next slide did surprise him, however: "Best Friends and Good Teammates"

Robin's voice came over the slide show. "The Titans have been my teammates for a long time, but only recently have I really appreciated them as my friends."

Starfire came over the screen and waved energetically. He felt a twinge of sorrow at this, but grinned at her optimism. Then Cyborg smiled and waved as he threw a football at Robin, who caught it neatly. Raven waved unenthusiastically in the background. He then saw himelf trying to crowd the camera.

He could remember that, actually, and how angry Robin had been. Something about trying to capture the moment?

"Starfire is my closest friend, and she's not as nieve as she looks."

At first, the camera showed Starfire examining the camera as everything flashed in different colors, but that picture faded into Starfire fighting. She truly was a warrior at heart, wasn't she?

"And Raven has always been there for me, no matter how much she denies it."

Raven glared at the camera, then the image faded into that of the empath fighting. Again, Beast Boy was amazed at her grace. He had to bite his lip when he saw her grin casually at her victory.

"Cyborg's always been a lot of fun."

"BOO-YAH!" Several sonic cannon blasts faded to a running figure getting hit in the head by a football, then looking around angrily at whoever had thrown it.

"...and then there's Beast Boy."

"Here it comes," he muttered.

"Beast Boy may be a prankster, but he's got so much potential. He doesn't know how great he is on this team."

Then he saw himself change into a gorilla, which faded to him attacking the camera for a joke.

At first he just stared at the screen in shock. He checked the date: two days before the 'incident' that had changed everything. The slide show ended; he'd never finished it. His mouth opened to form a small 'o'.

"What have I done?"


	19. Chapter 18

Alright. NaNoWriMo and being grounded kept me from putting this up, but it has been done since October, so I have been working on this, so I'm sorry!!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the DC universe, 'kay?

Chapter 18

Hollow footsteps echoed in the back of his mind as he kept walking forward. Never moving to look back, he slowly climbed the side of the building. Tiny beads of sweat had already formed on his brow and upper lip, but he wasn't about to let his own body stop him! No, if that had really been green, than he was about to see her again. But, no, he wouldn't let himself revel in this happiness yet. He couldn't afford another broken heart.

He was glad that there was no device in his ear; otherwise, he'd probably be hearing shouts of 'what do you think you're doing' and 'get back here right now' and such things. All he knew now was that he needed to get to the top- he was going to get to the top.

Resting for just a moment, he hooked the rope through his belt and let himself hang in the air, shaking his arms to try and get feeling to return to them. He'd been pulling himself up mostly with just those arms; one leg wouldn't help much. He sighed as he gripped the rope once more. He was certainly going to great lengths to get inside the Tower, whereas normally he could have just walked in; but would it really be worth it?

He knew now exactly where he was; his room. The windows were tinted from the inside so that nobody could look in; his was the only room with those particular details. He sighed, somewhat relieved that he couldn't see what kind of state everything was in. He didn't even really remember much of what had happened while he was in that room, just that he had been devastated and destroyed several things. Just down the hallway would be his study. All those computers and lab equipment, all collecting dust. Well, at least he knew that he could go there and pick up a few things if there really was no point to this whole thing.

He couldn't break the glass to his room; maybe Raven had a point when telling him that he needed to be less paranoid. What was it that she had said? Something about how it would come back to haunt him one day? He really didn't like the taste of his own foot.

So he kept climbing. What else was there to do? One hand over the other, slowly but surely, until he felt certain that he was going to drop. But that was just part of who he was; even if he felt like giving up, he never would. He didn't even rest anymore; he could see the top. He was so close.

Finally, one hand found the top. The roof. He shuddered a bit, remembering what had taken place here on this very roof. His first instinct was to recoil, but his body screamed for him to take a break. So he pulled himself over, breathing heavily at the strain it was causing his arms. Since when had the Tower been this big?

He just lay there on the roof until he could find the strength in his arms to pull himself back up again. The stupid crutch was back at the base of the Tower, so he pulled out a bo staff instead to support himself. Stupid leg. Stupid Beast Boy. Even he was stupid; stupid to walk right into all of this.

He took a deep breath; he didn't have time to be angry. He didn't have the energy either. Thoroughly annoyed with the lack of mobility his leg insisted on, he hobbled over to the door. The trapdoor that led to the roof. It was bolted shut.

He sighed in annoyance. Another product of his paranoia once again had to come back to haunt him. He tried a few explosives, but those only helped to slightly open the lock. No, he'd have to pry this one open.

He gripped the bo staff with both hands and put all of his weight into it. Unfortunately, his leg wasn't taking to all of this strain, and his knee buckled. He fell with a grunt to the ground, which served only to jar his already damaged leg. And that hurt. A lot.

Thankfully, his fall served some kind of purpose. The lock was already halfway open. He crawled over and pried it open himself. At this point he was sure Slade would have a long rant for him the moment he got back. But if he could see Starfire again, even if she couldn't forgive him, it would be worth it.

But he couldn't allow his emotions to get the best of him yet, no, that might prove the end of his already crumbling mind. So he'd do what he did best, and that meant focusing all his attention on the task at hand: breaking the lock.

His arms were going to be killing him tomorrow; he was sure of it. Even as he wrenched the lock apart, his arms were screaming at him to take a break. No, he'd take a break once he was inside, but not until then. Laboriously moving the heavy doors aside, he finally slipped down into the Tower.

"I'm actually back inside the Tower," he breathed, amazed by how much he had actually missed this feeling of being...home. Even as he hobbled slowly around, he could remember each detail that made the Tower unique, its size as well as its various rooms. No, there were those emotions again! He needed to control himself. See, this was why he hadn't come back to the Tower for so long...

Then he heard someone's faint footsteps approaching. Small, dainty steps, definitely feminine. Not Starfire, she'd be flying. Unless he had hurt her so bad that she could no longer fly? No, his heart couldn't bear that thought. Not yet. But it couldn't be Raven either. Even when she was mad, she still levitated everwhere. Then he remembered Red X talking about his plan. Jinx.

Unsure as to how kindly Jinx would react to his presence, he quickly ducked into the shadows and let her pass by. Her footsteps quickened as they neared the stairs leading to the roof, and he heard a small gasp. A blur of purple rushed by him as Jinx ran back to get the others. So now they knew that there was an intruder. Brilliant.

A red and white streak rushed by him, causing a slight wind to ruffled his hair. Thankfully, the apprentice uniform had its advantages; one of which was stealthy coloring. He'd have to look into making that 'Nightwing' suit Starfire had described. That is, if she was still alive and happy to see him. If she was alive and well, all was right with the world and he would even go back to being Robin.

Cyborg followed after, and Jinx was hot on his heels. "See?" she screeched. "Someone broke into the Tower!"

He slipped out of the darkness for a moment to check and see if the coast was clear. As far as he could tell, everyone had gone to see what Jinx had gotten so worked up about. So, stepping as lightly as his body would allow, he started towards the hospital wing.

It was the first time in many that he was glad the ward was so close to the roof. Normally, he tended to go on about how little sense it made to force injured Titans to climb stairs to get medical attention. The door opened with a loud 'woosh' that made him wince. He hoped no one had heard that.

He approached the curtain with apprehension, as if the moment he touched it, something would attack him. And something would, no doubt of that. His emotions were going to have a field day. For a moment, his hand rested on the curtain itself, and he took a deep breath. The curtain felt so warm and soft, just as he remembered Starfire's laugh to feel. And yet it was also wet. Wet with blood? Tears? Or did it just feel that way because his palms were sweaty? And the curtain was pink.

"Come on," he growled to himself. He could do better than this. He shouldn't let a silly thing like a curtain get in the way of seeing her again. His fingers curled around the fabric, creating little folds as he pulled it aside.

TTTTT

She was certain that she had heard footsteps in the hallway, but they couldn't be intruder footsteps; they sounded too erratic. Thump...thump thump...thump. Almost like a limp. Could it have been Beast Boy? Was that why he wouldn't come out; he had a limp?

She tugged at Kid Flash's sleeve to get his attention. "I don't think the intruder got very far. I think I heard something that way," she whispered, pointing towards the hallway that led to the medical ward.

He arched an eyebrow, but nodded. "Alright, I'll check it out. Be right back."

She smiled at his enthusiasm, then walked back up onto the roof to join the others.

The lock had melted around the edges, and a few scuff marks showed where tiny explosives had done their job. Apparently, their intruder had gotten frustrated with the lack of effect the explosives showed and wrenched the lock open, judging by the tiny scrapes in the floor.

"What bothers me most is the fact that this guy obviously wouldn't even be that big of a threat anyway. From what I can tell, it took him forever to scale the Tower," Red X muttered.

"What, you can defy gravity now?" she chuckled.

"No, I can just play with toys. Get with the program, kid," he shot back.

She narrowed her eyes, but decided that a fight right now wouldn't do much good. "Whatever."

"So we can rule out half of the villains on our list; Robin, Slade, Blackfire- since she can fly and all- who's left?" Cyborg said.

She shrugged, walking over to the edge of the roof to look out over the area the intruder must have come up. Something caught her eye, something silver. "Red X, get over here for a minute."

"I thought I'd finally escaped the bossy Titans," he grumbled, but came over nonetheless.

"See that down there?" she pointed.

He nodded. "I'll get it." Within seconds, he was back, holding it. A crutch?

"So I guess we can't rule out any of our villains. If they were on a crutch, it would explain why they took so long to get up here," she sighed.

"Yeah, but why would anyone who's crippled like that want to get in the Tower in the first place? They're obviously at a disadvantage," Cyborg mused.

"The crutch is silver, guys. Not wood. Metal. Who do we know that wears metal?" Red X said pointedly.

As if on cue, Kid Flash came speeding up the stairs to stop in front of Jinx. He clasped her hands in his excitedly. "You'll never guess who's in the medical ward!"

TTTTTT

She had to see Hope before she went. Hope had gotten her through, and she wanted more than anything to give her a big hug before she left. The white petals were big enough; it was surely only a matter of time.

Sure enough, the petals started to open, and, one by one, fell away to reveal a sleeping Hope. She looked exactly like Starfire, but her hair and clothes were white. Why Hope had white hair was still a mystery to Starfire, but perhaps it was simply the nature of these things.

Hope's eyes fluttered open and she yawned, stretching theatrically. She looked around, a small smile playing on her lips. Her eyes fell on Starfire, and she beamed.

"You are awake!" she squealed happily, rushing forward to embrace Hope.

But Hope held up her hand, shaking her head slowly. No words escaped her lips, but Starfire understood. Hope asked nothing in return for the goodness she had shown. That was her job, and she felt satisfied just knowing that Starfire had survived.

"I wish to thank you for supporting me and saving me from myself," Starfire said, "but if you do not wish to be thanked, I will respect your wishes and be on my way."

A sympathetic smile crept over Hope's face, and the white-clad emotion stepped forward to capture Starfire in a gentle embrace. When she pulled away, she nodded kindly to urge Starfire to continue forward. Forward to her Robin.

Starfire couldn't help but be amazed at how well Hope conveyed what she needed to say without ever saying a word. She paused for one last hug, then closed her eyes. Finding her center, she murmered the words Raven had taught her: "Zarthi, Amnurtos, Shi!"

A green energy engulfed her body, and her mouth opened to form an 'o' shape, but she quickly caught herself. Finding her center once more, she kept her eyes closed as she willed herself forward out of her mind. The image of Hope's gentle smile burned on her eyelids as she felt herself lifted up into the air.

She gasped in pain; something was trying to keep her from coming back. Reality. She was entering reality. Gritting her teeth, she repeated the words to add more power to her spell: "Zarthi, Amnurtos, SHI!"

With that, whatever darkness had taken hold of her let go, and she found herself lying down in the hospital ward. Her muscles were stiff; she could not move them. But she had made it! She was home!

Her hands felt strange. Perhaps this was the 'falling asleep' that Beast Boy referred to whenever he could not move his arms after sleeping for hours on one side? But she soon saw the reason why. Her hands had been clutching a mask. Just as she had been in her mind.

Her eyes widened as she slowly sat up, carefuly not to disturb her tingling hands. She just stared at the mask in her hands. Robin's mask. He had taken it off for her. Oh, why had she ever doubted his fidelity?

She turned the mask over and read the words written in dark pen: "Starfire, my love, you are sorely missed."

Her heart caught in her throat as she clutched the mask tighter, feeling rushing back into her fingers as she did so. "He did not abandon me," she sighed, relief washing over her. For a long time, she stared at that mask, joy nearly overcoming her.

Suddenly, she heard soft sounds, almost like footsteps, just outside her window. She wanted to get up and see who would be causing such metallic clanking noises outside a hospital room, but her lower body would not respond. "Ci'irc," she muttered. No, she rarely ever cursed, but this was as close to a superlative as she had gotten in a long time.

But the sounds quickly passed, and she was able to begin moving her legs after a time. When she felt that she might be able to walk now, she rose. For a moment, her legs wobbled, but she regained her balance quickly. Not wanting to over-use her legs, she took to the air immediately thereafter.

The curtain suited her; it was pink and soft. Robin had been so thoughtful to her, even when he had thought her to be dead. She clutched the fabric close to her chest, tears welling up in her eyes. She wiped these quickly onto the pink cloth, thinking only for a moment about what a shame it was that the curtains should be ruined so.

She stopped short at the empty bed near her own. The blankets were slightly out of place. Raven had been there earlier, no doubt. So why had the others moved her? She sighed, heading for the adjourning hospital wing. For a moment, she thought she heard tiny explosions, but she put such things out of her mind as she opened the door.

She gasped. Raven had not been entirely truthful in telling her about what had happened. Her injuries were much more extensive than the empath had admitted. She felt once more so selfish! Raven had been in a more dire situation than her own, and she had taken up her time with foolish emotions!

She rushed to her friend's side. "Oh, Friend Raven, why did you not tell me of your situation? You are bruised and require medical attention. Why is no one at your side right now?" she lamented.

She didn't need Raven to answer; the papers beside the bed answered for her. A coma. Would Raven awaken?

Soft footsteps echoed in the hallways, and Starfire heard a faint thump coming from the roof. The footsteps sped up. Curious, Starfire wondered into the hallway just in time to see a flash of pink and purple round the corner. Remembering Raven's complaints of how Jinx and Kid Flash constantly conflicted with Red X, she dismissed her initial suspicion. Jinx was a friend now.

Still, she did not want to wander out into the hallway just yet. She returned to Raven's side, taking her friend's hand in her own as fresh tears fell onto the pale skin. "Raven, you have only recently reminded me of the power of hope. If what you feared is true and you are indeed trapped in your mind, please come back to me. You are my truest friend, Raven, and I could not bear to lose you. I have already told you; I would not have made it without your support. I did not give up on you, now don't give up on me." With those words, she rested her head on her friend's shoulder, letting the tears fall as she sniffled pitifully. After such a long time of feeling nothing but helplessness, it broke her heart that she must bear such a burden again now that she was free of her mind.

She heard footsteps again, but this time they were pounding steps. Running footsteps. Then came the soft pitter-patter of steps that faded into a sound much like a machine gun as the steps increased in speed. Kid Flash. Shortly after were the pounding steps of Cyborg mixed with the lighter steps that must have been Jinx.

"See? Someone broke into the Tower!"

Starfire's heart lept into her throat. Someone had broken in? That would account for the sounds she had heard outside of her room.

Then she heard familiar footsteps. Very familiar footsteps. She recognized the slightly heavy, cocky steps, but why were they uneven? Was Robin hurt? Or was he the intruder? She could not decide what to fell, so she simply rose and peeked around the corner in time to see Kid Flash smile in amusement at something or someone in the hospital wing. The young hero just stood there for a moment, then rushed off, no doubt to go tell the others.

She gripped the wall in excitement, contorting its shape accidentally. Though she blushed, she still could not contain herself. Soon she would see Robin again!


	20. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: same as always

Chapter 19

A thousand thoughts came to her mind at one time, all fighting for her attention. Some told her to shoot him then and there for daring to come after her still wearing an apprentice uniform, and some told her that she should rush forward to hold him in her arms. She decided that the anger could wait for a little while longer; it was better to entertain good emotions when her mind was still young.

"Robin!" she shouted joyfully, flying right at the figure standing over her vacant bed.

He turned just in time to feel the full impact of her run, and they both fell backwards, luckily landing on the soft mattress. He must have been still recovering from the shock of seeing her alive, for he was slow to return her embrace. But soon she held him too tightly to care.

"Star...fire!" he gasped as he turned slightly blue.

She immediatley released him. "I am so sorry, Robin, it is just that I am so excited that you are here and not dead and-"

He put a gentle finger to her lips, smiling. "I know, Starfire, I was just thinking the same thing. I'm so glad that you're alive, and even more excited that you're not mad at my stupidity," he sighed.

She bit her lip. "Well..."

A shadow crossed his handsome face. "You're..not mad, are you?"

"Please Robin, do not talk of the negatives of what has happened. Just be glad that we are both here, together and alive. Please? We can talk of anger later, but for now can we not simply be happy?"

"Star, I made a deal. I made a deal with Slade," he said, all emotion suddenly rushing out of his voice.

"Is that not obvious by your clothing? But Raven has explained everything to me and how you believed me to be dead, and I understand why you might have been distressed, so let us not talk of that."

But he wasn't buying it. "Star, answer me truthfully. Do you want to explode at me? Are you angry?"

Before she could answer, a high, shrill voice broke in, "Robin, you idiot! Just kiss and make up for crying out loud!" and a pink hex in the shape of a hand gave Robin a good thump of the head.

With a glare, he reached up to rub the back of his head, and she caught his hand. "Robin, I could never be angry with you, just confused. Why did you desert us?"

"I think that's the question on everyone's mind," Red X chuckled.

"Who else has come to intrude?" Robin growled.

"Oh, just me, Jinx, Kid Flash, and Cyborg," the black-clad figure laughed.

He paled and gripped her hand harder. She could feel his pulse quicken as he asked, "Where's Raven and Beast Boy?"

No answer. Now Starfire was concerned as well.

"Where are they?" he repeated, this time dropping her hand and attempting to jump to his feet, but he didn't succeed in getting very far.

"Robin!" she cried out despite herself as she rushed to support him.

He narrowed his eyes and repeated the question, malice dripping from every word. "Where are Raven and Beast Boy?"

"Alright, kid, you asked for it. Raven's in the ward next door, in a coma, and Beast Boy took over your study," X said.

"He took over my..." he trailed off, the full force of Red X's words hitting him like a train. Though he remained calm, she could see how nervous he was. "A coma?"

Starfire put a tentative hand on his shoulder. "Robin-"

He whirled around. "She's in a coma?"

She forced herself to nod.

Cyborg was holding the crutch. Two seconds later, he was staring wide-eyed out the door, empty-handed.

TTTTT

His eyes were focused on the screen. The words. The movie was over, but he could still see it playing past in his mind.

He hesitated, not sure if he should open the door or not. But guilt overruled pride and he opened the door, light streaming in to momentarily blind him.

He heard voices in the hallway and transformed quickly into a fly so that he could spy on the others. They were all crowded around the door...smiling. Smiling? Jinx's eyes glowed pink, but by the time he reached the doorway, they were back to normal, even twinkling in amusement.

Then he heard her voice. The voice of a friend he had thought to be dead. A voice riddled with confusion and sadness, yes, but it was still her voice. Starfire!

"I think that's the question on everyone's mind," Red X chuckled as the little green fly touched down on Kid Flash's shoulder.

"Who else has come to intrude?"

No. Way. No way. His mind wouldn't believe what his eyes told him. This couldn't be real. He had fallen asleep in that overly dark study, that's all. He'd wake up and find out that he still had reason to feel guilty and that he needed to get on with his work. No, this couldn't be a dream. His eyes weren't lying. That was Robin, wrapped-up, leg and all. He knew it wasn't a dream because he couldn't be imagining Robin's reaction to him being in the study. And his reaction to Raven's condition.

Oh, he saw the dropped shoulders and determined scowl. The Boy Wonder was worried to death about Raven. Whether that was because of guilt or something else was undecided, but the little green fly was not surprised when the crutch disappeared from Cyborg's hands in a flash.

He followed Robin into the room, transforming back into a human and locking the door behind him. He needed to talk to Robin one-on-one, and that meant no disturbances.

"Robin?" he ventured.

The Boy Wonder spun around, eyes wide. "Beast Boy?"

He nodded. "Robin, about what happened before, I'm sorry for trying to..."

But Robin was far from listening to him. His eyes remained on Raven's still form, and his breathing got shallow. "Beast Boy, how long has she been like this?"

He hesitated. "Ever since..."

Thankfully, he didn't have to finish the sentence. Robin knew. "Ever since I lost control. It's just so easy to lose control when your emotions go haywire. I think I finally understand what he was talking about, always talking about how bad emotions were in this business. I should have listened to him. Didn't he warn me when I told him about Starfire?" Lost in his thoughts, it seemed that Robin had forgotten that Beast Boy was even here.

"Who?" Beast Boy asked despite himself.

Robin returned to reality with a jolt, spinning around. "Sorry, Beast Boy. I-"

"No, it's okay. Look, dude, can I talk to you?"

"Beast Boy, I don't think it's a good time..."

"Please?"

Something inside Robin must have finally activated those elusive emotions, because he managed a small smile. "Alright."

"Robin, I'm sorry about what happened earlier. You were right, it's too easy to lose control when you let your emotions do all the thinking for you. I should have thought things through first."

"You had a right to, though," Robin sighed. "I should be apologizing."

He waited patiently, fully expecting Robin to follow through with it, then realized that the famous pride held the Boy Wonder back. So he prodded again, "Look, you know we'd accept you back on the team if you really wanted us too..."

"I don't think I can do this anymore, Beast Boy," Robin sighed.

"What are you talking about? You're Robin! You know, the obsessive leader who's always telling us that we're super heros because we owe it to the people, that we've got the power to stop more bad stuff from happening and so we have to help out! Aren't you the one who-"

"Correction: I was Robin. I'm not sure who I am anymore. Robin wouldn't have done this," he said, gesturing towards Raven.

"Um, maybe Robin in his right mind wouldn't. We'll get you some therapy and you can go on leave for a while or something," he pleaded.

Robin raised an eyebrow. "Why are you suddenly so keen on me returning?"

"Um..." Should he tell Robin about the movie? Should he tell him that he knew?

"There has to be a reason. It wasn't too long ago that you were trying to kill me, remember? I think I deserve something here."

"Um, do you remember how Red X said that I kind of, um, locked myself in your study?" Oh boy, here it comes.

But instead of exploding, Robin nodded. "I find research takes my mind off things too."

He nodded energetically, glad that he wasn't getting shouted at. "And the lighting is a comfort too. You don't feel like everyone's staring at you. You can just forget about everything else and focus on the task at hand."

Robin shook his head. "Beast Boy, you're starting to sound like me."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"It's not."

Beast Boy was taken aback. "Of course it is!"

"No, it's not. Beast Boy, don't go obsessive like I did. Just don't."

He couldn't help but notice that the Boy Wonder's eyes were on Raven again. A green monster inside of him wanted to wrench that attention away, but he controlled himself. He was supposed to be apologizing, after all. "Right. So, um, while I was in the study, I accidentally hit a few keys, and I found this file, right, and it had this movie on it..."

Robin's eyes widened. "What movie?" he asked tersely.

"Um, a good one?"

"What. Movie?" Robin asked again, venom dripping in his voice.

"Um, the one that you didn't finish?"

This time, instead of anger, Robin smiled that characteristic half-smile. "Oh, that movie. Did you like it so far?" Oh, Beast Boy could tell that the smile was faked, though. Something was nagging at the back of the Boy Wonder's mind. That something had been there this entire conversation.

"You didn't finish it."

Robin grinned. "Alright, it looks like you finally found a way to convince me to stay." But the grin faded as the Boy Wonder's eyes fell back on the still figure on the bed. "My only question is, do you think she'll wake up?"

"You sure know how to kill a mood," he sighed.

A fierce determination came into Robin's voice as he replied, "Well, I thought I lost her once. I don't want to go through that again."


	21. Chapter 20

Disclaimer; I don't own anything in the DC universe.

Chapter 20

He had been staring at nothing for so long that Beast Boy finally left him alone. The only words he had said in the past hour or two were: "Lock the door behind you".

Hesitantly, he reached out to stroke her hair. "Come on Rae. Come on. It's a coma. It's in your mind. We all know you can pull yourself out of it. What's holding you back?" he whispered, more to himself than to the pale girl on the bed.

His fingers caught in her hair; it had dried blood in it. His first impulse was to pull away, but he forced himself not to. It was time to face what he had done and confess. He was sorry. He, Robin, the Boy Wonder, was sorry.

"Rae, I hope you can hear me. I'm pretty sure you can, or else I'm just going crazy. But I'm sorry. I know I never said it, but I am. I'm sorry for being obsessive, for leading you on while I was still undecided. The truth is, Rae, I wasn't sure. I did enjoy that kiss, back on the rooftop. I don't know what I am anymore, Rae, and it's because I'm confused. I think I love you. I think I still love you, that is. But Starfire's loss was the one that pushed me over the top, right? Well, do you want to know a secret, Rae? I didn't go over the top until you were lost. And, I don't know, it just seems like I've had a whole lot of time to think things over. So if you don't hate me when you get back, let's start over. No dating, no emotions, just going back to being friends until we can work back up into a romance," he paused, taking her hand in his own. "Don't leave me, Rae. Please."

His hands shook as he tried to compose himself. Talking was hard. Emotions were hard. But he'd learned that bottling them up was worse. As he tried to regain control of his breathing, he cupped her chin. She was so delicate, and he almost feared to touch her. But it was all in his head, right? Raven was the strong member of the team, the one that you went to when there was a problem, the one that could handle anything.

"Of course," he said quietly, "if you like Beast Boy much better, I understand that too. After all, he's the one that tried to help out, he's the one that you saw sacrifice himself for you, right? I guess I'm not much of a hero compared to him anymore. Running from my problems, I guess that's always what I've done. But, Rae, it's just so much easier to run from your past than it is the face it, you know?"

He laughed gently. "Of course you know. If anyone knows about running from who you are, it's you. I guess I should have learned from that experience, huh? That just goes to show how thick I am, right?" He chuckled. "But it's that stupid pride that holds me back. You've told me that so many times, and Starfire has many more times. Even Beast Boy and Cyborg tell me that."

The annoying beeping sound in the background seemed to distract from the mood, but he wouldn't turn it off. He couldn't. Those machines told him whether or not she was still holding on to life. And as much as he didn't want to hear it, that one, long, resounding beep that would signal her last breath needed to be heard. Because if he couldn't hear it, he'd be talking to nothing. And then he'd really be crazy.

He dropped his head in his hands, trying to think straight. He couldn't let his emotions get the better of him. He was trying to talk it all out. One emotion at a time. Focus, Boy Wonder. How could he let emotions get in the way of emotions? Nothing made sense anymore!

So he threw caution to the wind. Maybe if he could shock her systems back into working ..."If this doesn't wake you up, I don't know what will," he muttered as he leaned forward. His lips met hers and he could feel the warmth of her breath. She took a deep breath and seemed to relax. It was working!

Then, suddenly, he felt a soft tickle on his forehead as her eyes opened, and he pulled away to stare into those beautiful pools of light. His heart missed a few beats, though, as he saw the pain in her eyes. The part of her that was so close to death. But she was awake, there was no denying that.

A small smile spread over her lips and she took his hand. "So, the ultimate question has been answered. Why is Robin the way he is? Because he's a stubborn moron who's afraid of his own emotions."

He laughed softly. "Well, you retained your sarcasm. That's good. How do you feel?"

"Not sure," she said, experimentally lifting her arms and flexing her fingers. "And you? I thought Beast Boy said that you..."

"Died? I've 'died' before, remember? The important thing is that I'm here now. And I promise I won't be a moron anymore. I thought a lot about my emotions those weeks before I decided to go to Slade, and I figured out a lot as well."

"Robin..." she sighed, gently pushing his hand away from her cheek. "Robin, no."

"No? Rae, you...I..." Why was she turning him down? What had he done wrong? Hadn't it been Raven who was so mad at him going to someone else in the first place?

"Look, Robin, I know you're confused, but..." she sighed heavily. "Look, it's just that Starfire and I just healed the tear in our friendship over you, and I wouldn't want to reopen that wound." She closed her eyes and looked away, then smiled slightly. "No matter how much I'm excited to hear you say it."

He nodded. "Of course. I'm glad that you two are friends again, and I don't have the right to ask you to throw that away."

"Plus she'd be mad at you, and trust me, you don't want to know how that feels," she chuckled.

The floor. Stare at the floor. Think of something else. "Yeah, I guess."

There was silence for a moment before Raven suddenly gasped, "Robin, what happened to your leg?"

He flushed; apparently he hadn't hidden the crutch well enough. "I...well, when Beast Boy and I fought, I kind of lost."

She raised an eyebrow, then chuckled. "So you broke into the tower with a bad leg? I keep forgetting how much I underestimate you sometimes. Why the sudden need to get inside?"

He bit his lip, knowing that if he told her, she would needle him. "I saw a green flash..."

"..and thought that it was Starfire, so you rushed to see her. Don't hide it from me, lover boy, you still have feelings for her, so it's not a complete loss for you, now is it?" she finished for him, a wide smirk creeping over her face.

"I hate it when you do that, you know," he sighed, leaning against the opposite side of the bed.

She stretched her legs tentatively, then carefully got out of bed. "Yeah, well, at this point I can read you like an open book. Thanks for waking me up, by the way."

"I'm just glad you got back in one piece," he admitted. And he was. If something had happened to her, he would have never forgiven himself.

"Actually..."

"Oh no. Rae, I'm so sorry!" he blurted out before he could even think.

"No, Robin, it's okay. I can fix it; I'll just get Starfire to help out. See, when I was in my mind, I kind of...gave up. So right now my emotions are a bare minimum. That's why I'm not as upset as I would have been before that I have to give you up."

"But you can fix it?"

She chuckled, but she swayed a little as she did. "I think so," she said, but her voice said otherwise. It was going to be a long road, and even then she might not make it all the way.

He nodded, then rose to grab his crutch. "Well, what say we get out of this stupid hospital? I hate this place."

She managed a weak chuckle, though he could tell it was forced.

"It's okay, Rae, you don't have to laugh or anything. I'm just trying to lighten the-"

She held up a hand to stop him in mid-sentence. "I thought you said you wouldn't be a moron anymore?"

He smiled. "After you, madam."

TTTT

"He's been in there for a while now," Beast Boy said for about the third time as he paced the room.

"Perhaps he does not wish for us to see him when he is overwhelmed by emotion?" Starfire offered. Little did she know how right she was.

"Or maybe he's catching up with-" Red X was cut off when Jinx jabbed him in the ribs.

Starfire sighed. "It is okay. I know what he was going to say. And I cannot help but feel the same. Robin has been gone for so long that there is no telling where his heart lies, or his loyalties. I still cannot believe all that he has done while I was gone."

"Neither can we. He wasn't himself, Star," Cyborg sighed. "We'll just give him the benefit of the doubt for now, alright?"

The others nodded, all murmering in unison, "Alright."

Just then, the doors opened with a swish, and they all turned around.

"Hey, Robin, took you long..." Whatever Beast Boy was going to say died off as his mouth dropped open.

"Raven!" Starfire was the first to come out of her stupor as she rushed up to hug her friend, then stopped short. "May I give you the hug, or are you injured?"

"No, go ahead," Raven smiled.

"Glorious!" the Tamaranean beauty replied, lifting her friend off of the ground and spinning around.

The ice was broken, and the others laughed. As Jinx, Cyborg, Red X, and Beast Boy crowded Raven with excited shouts, Starfire managed to slip by to see Robin. "How did you manage to save our friend?" she asked.

"I didn't do it by myself, Star. I just knew that she needed a little push in the right direction," he sighed, and she knew from his expression that he didn't want to talk about it.

She took his hand and squeezed it gently. This time she didn't hurt him; she had learned after a lot of practice how to control her strength to meet the standards of humans. "Robin, I wish that you would tell me what is wrong. That would make it easier for me to give you advice. It would make it easier for me to understand you."

He nervously shifted his stance and looked away. "I'm not ready to talk right now, Star," he admitted, hobbling away.

"I wish that you would," she whispered before joining the others.

"Thanks again for everything that you did to help out," Robin said, shaking her hand.

Jinx and Kid Flash had packed their things and were ready to leave. They stood outside the Tower, saying their goodbyes. Jinx smiled as she let go of his hand, then said, "It was no problem. After all, where would you be without us? Just don't go breaking your leg anymore, okay?"

"And thank you too, Kid Flash. From what I've heard, you played the main role in getting Cyborg back together," Robin continued, adjusting his cape so that it wouldn't get in the way as he held out his hand.

Jinx grinned. Though he wouldn't let on, she could tell that Robin was relieved to be wearing his own uniform again. As they all were.

Robin stopped in front of Red X and took a deep breath as if he were forcing himself to talk. "X...I guess I owe you an apology. I should've listened to you..."

Red X shook his head. "Forget about it, kid. Just do me a favor and don't let on that I was helping you the whole time, okay? It would ruin my street cred."

Jinx chuckled as the dark-clad figure disappeared into the air. For a minute there, it had almost seemed like he was winking.

"Ready to go?" Kid Flash whispered in her ear.

"Just a minute," she whispered back, then walked up to Raven and gave her a warm hug.

"What was that for?" Raven asked, surprised.

"Because you looked like you needed it," Jinx said. "And because you're going to be going through a lot after we're gone, especially with Robin."

"Thanks," Raven whispered back.

Kid Flash raised his hand in a mock salute. "Well, off go the true heros of this story, never to be remembered for how much they really did, the unsung workers of miracles that-"

She playfully bopped him on the head. "Just get going already!" she laughed, taking his hand.

"Wasn't that what I wanted to do just two minutes ago?" he chuckled.

"I have the right to change my mind!"

"At least a couple hundred times!" he shot back jokingly, and before she could react, they were off. By the time they stopped, they were back home.

As she paused to catch her breath, Jinx asked, "Do you think they'll be able to pull through?"

He nodded quietly, "They always do, don't they?"

"What about Robin? Raven told me that they're revoking his membership for a while until he can get himself back together. Do you think he'll be okay?" she persisted.

Surprisingly, Kid Flash started laughing. As he tried fervently to control himself, he explained, "I'm sorry, it's just that...It's hard when you actually have to worry about the welfare of others, isn't it? When you were with the Hive, would you really have cared if this had happened to your team?"

"They were such idiots that it was only a matter of..."

"Exactly," he interrupted, pausing to catch his breath. "You're experiencing worry for the first real time. It's only natural. What happens will happen. Whatever punishment Robin gets, it's his own fault, and he's got to accept that. I think he already has. So you need to accept it too and move on."

"Do you think things will ever be the same again between them?"

His expression sombered as he sighed, "With something this big, there will be a definite change. But it doesn't have to be a bad thing."

"But what if it is?" she asked. This worry was starting to be a burden.

He sighed, putting his arms around her and pulling her close. "So what if it is? We all make mistakes and we learn from it. That's life."

"I wish life didn't have to hit you like a bulldozer," she lamented.

"Hey, when life give you lemons..."

She smiled up at him, her eyes sparkling with contained laughter. "...chuck 'em back at 'im."


	22. Epilogue

Disclaimer: same as always

Epilogue

There was something so calming about riding a bike, something that distracted him from the rest of the world, that made him forget why he was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt.

He wasn't even riding the R-Cycle, but a normal bike with pedals. Truth be told, he was glad to get out in the sun; the past few months had been spent in a small cell. No doubt his health would suffer if he didn't get some exercise, though he was still on the alert for trouble, even if he wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

No matter what the others thought, he wasn't taking his punishment very well. It would be another month before he would be a Titan again, and even then he wouldn't be the leader for another few months. It wasn't that the Titans didn't trust him, just the public. Although given the circumstances, you'd think they'd be more lenient...

Huffing and puffing, he finally reached the top of the hill and looked down on the busy streets. Without his uniform or his mask, he just looked like a normal kid. Which was nice, actually, since he no longer had to put up with the throngs of love-sick fans that seemed to have crowded the visitor's center at the detention cell he'd been stuck in.

He let go of the brakes and flew down the hill, finally coming to a stop after turning down a few alleys. He let his momentum carry him for a little while further before coasting to a stop to grin. He loved to do that.

"Hey bozo!" shouted a voice from the shadows.

"Oh brother. What do you want?" he shouted back.

"You're on our turf! And we don't take too kindly to strangers intruding on our turf!" the voice shouted back, and Robin saw several shadows dart around. About ten teenage boys, he guessed. Maybe eleven.

He grinned and rolled up his sleeves. At that moment, one of the boys leaped from the darkness, a blade catching the faint light as he dove for Robin's face. The Boy Wonder twisted away at the last second and grabbed his attacker's wrist, flinging him into two other hooligans who had been trying to sneak up on him from behind. He assumed a fighting stance as five more ran towards him. With ease, he dodged their clumsy punches before he delivered his own swift kick to one's stomach. That boy doubled over, leaving a gap for Robin to jump through. He did so, then slammed two of the boy's heads together. Both crumpled to the ground. Two down, nine to go.

The one whose wrist Robin had grabbed at the beginning came running at him again, blade still in hand. He dropped to the ground and brought his leg around in a sweeping circle, knocking the guy off of his feet as the blade fell away. He picked up the fallen teenager and swung him around to land on two of his comrades. All three slammed into a wall and crumpled to the ground. Five down.

One, the apparent leader, rushed at Robin so fast that he narrowly avoided that blow. As the Boy Wonder avoided several swift punches and blocked several kicks, this youth smirked, "You're pretty good, kid. Where'd you learn to fight?"

"This?" he chuckled. "Naw, this is what I do for fun!" With that, he dove out of the way and rolled, stopping right in front of two of the guy's comrades. These two jumped for a moment, then grinned as they leaned down to strike, but he slid between the bigger one's legs and appeared behind them, knocking their heads together as well. Seven down. Now he was actually starting to breathe heavily, but he could take on four untrained teenagers, right?

Three of them rushed at Robin, surrounding him as he looked for an opening. This time, one of the blows connected with his jaw, and he felt a warm trickle of blood running from his lips. He compensated by jumping into the air, twisting around, and landed a hard kick to one of the guy's heads. That one was out before he even hit the hard cement.

Unfortunately, he didn't see the guy coming up from behind, and this big hooligan grabbed the hood of his sweatshirt to pull him backwards. The strings caught on his throat as his head hit the hard ground, and he saw stars for a few seconds. Of course, a few seconds was all this gang needed to surround him. In a moment, he had the guy's arms around his chest, pinning him as the leader wound up for a punch.

Fortunately, his legs were free. He hooked his foot around the big guy's ankle, tripping him. What he didn't plan on was going down with the big guy. Thankfully, he landed on his side, so his elbow cushioned the blow, but now he was bleeding some. He squirmed free just in time to receive a hard kick the the jaw, and the small trickle of blood intensified to a steady flow. He wiped it away with his hand, then rushed forward with a battle cry.

His first punch hit the biggest one square in the nose, and his second knocked him out. As he was about to deliver a third to the smaller one's stomach, light exploded in his eyes and his nose started throbbed. He kicked out towards where he thought he could see movement, but until he could see again, he would have to rely on his other senses. Which was okay; he had learned how to do that when training with the True Master.

He could taste the blood flowing from both his lips and his nose as he dropped to the ground to knock the legs out from under one of his attackers. His eyesight returned presently, just in time to alert him to an oncoming punch. He ducked, then grabbed the arm and slammed the guy to the ground. Two left; he could handle that.

All three boys were breathing pretty hard, and Robin's sweatshirt was torn in several places. He was going to have a hard time explaining this to the others when he got back. The two remaining thugs rushed at him with battle cried, but he was faster. Spotting an overhanging flagpole, he bounded off of the wall to grab it. After swinging around it, he landed on his feet on top of it and bent it. Using the momentum of the pole, he flew towards the two and slammed them to the ground, knocking them both out. But he had miscalculated his momentum, and all three of them slammed into the wall. He was able to turn just in time to avoid getting knocked over the head, but he also slammed his shoulder into the wall. He heard it dislocate with a pop and grimace. With a groan, he forced himself to sit up and look after his wounds.

His jeans had been torn off at the knees, and several pieces of granite had been embedded in his legs. His sweatshirt was also torn pretty badly and plastered to his chest in sweat, so he just pulled it off. When he did so, though, it only revelaed several cuts and bruises, as well as a deep gash he hadn't noticed before from one of the thug's blades. He wiped at the blood rushing from his nose and lips, then muttered, "They're going to kill me for this, I know it."

He pulled himself shakily to his feet and gathered the sweatshirt up. Smiling, he surveyed the scene; all of the hooligans were out cold, sprawled across the pavement. All eleven of them. Not bad for someone who had been inside for several months with no way to train. Oh, he missed his gym, but there was no way that the others would let him anywhere near that place. He'd had to beg just to go on a bike ride.

"So, have fun?" asked a familiar voice behind him.

He groaned, then slowly turned. "Rae, you saw it. They attacked me. Clear cut case of self-defense, right?"

She rolled her eyes, cocking her head slightly to the side. "And you weren't looking for trouble by going through the alleys that you knew would house gangs?"

He paled; she had caught him. "Come on, Rae! I just got back outside! I had to do something!"

She shook her head in mock disbelief, but smiled nonetheless. "Alright, let's get you cleaned up," she said, reaching out a glowing hand. The flow of blood coming from his nose and lips stopped.

"Thanks," he muttered as she reached out to heal the rest of his wounds. He shuddered when her hands touched his chest; he was very sore. Then when she reached for his shoulder, he stifled a gasp of pain.

"Sorry!" she gasped, immediately retracting her hand. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, his hand going instinctively to his shoulder despite his pride. "Yeah, don't worry about it."

A long silence followed before she finally said, "Alright, let's get you back to the Tower."

"What are we going to do about them?" he asked, gesturing towards the fallen thugs.

"Cell phone," she ordered.

He sighed, handing it over. That cell phone was his only source of communication; his communicator wouldn't be returned to him for another month. "Police?"

She nodded, "Police." She quickly dialed the number. "Hello? Police? Hi, it's Raven from the Teen Titans. Had a run-in with a small gang of about eleven members. They had a fight between themselves, apparently. Come pick them up, please. Thanks." She hung up, then gave him a small smile. "Found a new gym, I see."

He nodded. "Well, you guys weren't going to let me train..."

"Robin," she sighed, "you can't just use physical distractions to avoid your problems. You've got to face them. Are you ever going to pull yourself together enough to apologize to Starfire?"

"I..."

"Robin, you apologized to me, Cyborg, and even Beast Boy. What's so hard about this? You still have feelings for her, don't you?"

"Well, do you think she still...?"

She rolled her eyes. "She's been counting down the days, Robin. Do you realize you broke her heart by insisting on a bike ride before you could even spend five minutes with her?"

"I didn't realize..."

"Robin, how is it that you can fight eleven gang members with knives without a single weapon to protect yourself and yet you can't even face someone that I know you consider to be your best friend?"

"I...how did you...?"

She sighed in annoyance. "I'm an empath, remember? Now, let's get you back to the Tower, and then you and Starfire can talk."

"But, Rae, it's so much easier to train or fight than it is to do this!"

"Robin..." she growled.

"Fine."

She engulfed him in her soul self, and he shivered slightly. He had forgotten what it felt like to be part of Raven. It was a...nice feeling. That is, until she dumped him on the beach in front of the Tower. His bike followed soon after, and he rolled out of the way. Finally, Raven dropped down beside him and helped him up. "Think I can touch that shoulder now?" she asked.

He nodded. "Go ahead."

Very carefully, she reached out to heal him. It hurt a bit, but he bit his lip. It wouldn't do to start shouting every time something was slightly uncomfortable; he had just gotten back!

"Robin? What has happened to you?"

He groaned inwardly when he heard Starfire approaching. "I...took a spill on my bike," he lied.

"Ahem."

He jerked his head around to see Raven glaring at him, her arms folded across her chest. "Alright, alright. I needed some practice, okay?"

Starfire giggled. "I am just glad to see that your incarceration has not changed you for the worse. When you left, I feared that I had lost the Robin that I missed so badly while you were gone!"

He smiled slightly. "No, it's still the same old obsessed Robin."

"And I am glad!" she beamed, then wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Hesitantly, he returned the hug, but eased into it eventually.

And out of the corner of his eye, he could see Raven standing there with a small smile.


End file.
